Operation: TRUE LEADUH
by Usami
Summary: Numbuh 1 finds himself slowly losing the respect of his other team members as leader of the Kids Next Door. Will he be able to gain it back? Or will he lose it in a way no one thought possible?
1. Prologue

**Codename: Kids Next Door  
****Created by Mr. Warburton  
****Now Loading: Kids Next Door Mission  
****Operation: T.R.U.E. L.E.A.D.U.H.  
****T**o  
**R**emember that  
**U**no, Nigel  
**E**quals  
**L**eader  
**E**specially by doing  
**A**ctions that  
**D**eserves  
**U**tmost  
**H**onor

The doors of the large building swung shut, the slamming coming from them echoing in the otherwise empty area around it. Through the windows, any passerby would have seen lights go on suddenly; the neon colors flashing so that nothing but the silhouettes of many adults were all that were seen.

Eerie noises were heard coming from the building, barely covering up the many adults' laughter as they did who knows what in the large, domed building.

In the bushes nearby, a small rustling was heard before a young boy's head popped up from his hiding area. Despite how dark it was, with only the full moon and the lights from inside the building as the only source of illumination, the boy was wearing a pair of thick, dark-lenses sunglasses. Spitting some leaves out of his mouth, he stood up, dusting off his red shirt. "Kids Next Door," he called, his accented voice drowning out the adult noises and laughter, "report!"

There were some other rustling noises, as another boy's head popped up from a bush a little bit away from the first. Standing up, he waddled his way over to the first boy. He was a round boy, who wore a pilot's helmet on his head.

"Nothing over there, Numbuh 1," the round boy replied. "But I think the grown-ups are eating chips in there."

The first boy, Numbuh 1, rolled his eyes under his sunglasses. "Thank you, Numbuh 2," he said, somewhat sarcastically. Looking up in the tree next to him, he called, "What about you, Numbuh 4? See anything?"

In the tree, there were some more crackling noises, when a small, blond boy jumped down from the branch he was on. He wore an orange hooded sweatshirt and jeans. "Nothin'," he replied in his strong Aussie accent.

From the tree across from them, a dark girl jumped out, landing gracefully on the ground, and made her way towards the rest of the group. Her eyes were covered by the rim of her red cap, and she wore a blue shirt. "Numbuh 5 didn't see nothin' over there, neitha'," the girl said.

Numbuh 1 nodded to her, then looked around. He let out a slightly agitated sigh as he asked, "Where's Numbuh 3?"

As if on cue, another girl in the other tree near the group came swinging out of it, her long, black hair flapping in the wind as she did so. "**Whee!!**" she cried out, laughing loudly.

As soon as she landed, her teammates grabbed her by her green sweater, pulling her into the bush Numbuh 1 had been hiding in moments before.

The gray doors suddenly opened, and an adult poked their head outside, surveying the surrounds. Seeing nothing, she shrugged, sticking her head back inside, the large gray doors slamming shut.

Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 4 had clamped their hands on Numbuh 3's mouth for the duration of that time. When the adult was gone, the two let out a sigh, allowing Numbuh 3 to breathe from her mouth again.

"Don't do that again!" Numbuh 1 chastised her. "You could accidentally blow the whole mission!"

Numbuh 3 pouted slightly. "Oh, comon, Numbuh 1!" she replied cheerfully, patting his bald head. "Lighten up a bit!"

He pulled away from her hand, turning his gaze back towards the dome building. "We need to find out what the grown-ups are doing in there," he said, ignoring Numbuh 3's earlier comment.

"What are we assuming?" Numbuh 2 asked.

"Sources indicate that the grown-ups gather there every month. Though the reason is unclear, it's said that this place is a secret laboratory, and the adults are building some kind of kid-torture device."

"Yeah," Numbuh 4 said, "well, this info betta not be comin' from tha same 'sources' that tha otha ones come from!"

Numbuh 1 glanced over at the smaller boy, then looked back at the dome.

The small Aussie groaned loudly. "Again?! That's like…what?...tha fifth time!!! Listen, Numbuh 1, this is the fifth time we got info from that bogus 'source' and the otha four times, they were **wrong**!!"

"Numbuh 4 got a point," Numbuh 5 replied, leaning against the tree. "How do we know this ain't some more bogus information? Whoeva dis source is, they've been wrong all da time."

"Right or wrong," Numbuh 1 said, "it's our mission to check it out. We have to make sure that this _isn't_ a secret lab, and that they _aren't_ making a kid-torture device. If they are, then we blow that and the lab up. That is our mission, because we…"

"Yeah, yeah," the other four grumbled, "we are the Kids Next Door."

"Glad to see that you all remember. Now, are we all ready?"

The others nodded.

"All right. Kids Next Door…battle stations!"

Whipping out an assortment of weapons, the Numbuh 5 fired an ice beam at the steel doors, freezing them. Numbuh 4, running towards the door, suddenly jumped, aiming his foot for the icy doors. The ice easily broke, as he landed on the inside of the dome building.

The others rushed inside after him, just in case he needed assistance. But as they looked on, their determined expressions quickly changed to that of confusion.

The adults that stood there stared at the kids, confusion sweeping over their faces as well. The tiles on the floor blinked different color lights, and the ball on the ceiling of the room, glittering. The music that was playing suddenly stopped s all the adults stared at them.

"A discothèque?" Numbuh 1 cried, slightly appalled.

"That's right," a woman said, taking a step towards them. She was the same woman that surveyed the surroundings earlier. "Every month, the members here come to dance disco."

"That should be an offense to kids anyway," muttered Numbuh 4 to the others.

"So…this…" Numbuh 1 found himself stuttering. He cursed himself mentally for it.

"What did you think this was?" the woman asked, her and the other adults seemingly a bit angry.

"Um…uh…a secret lab building a kid-torture device?"

The five kids ran out, screaming to the top of their lungs, as the disco-loving adults wearing outdated clothes chased them out of the discotheque, angrily waving clubs at them.

A short distance away, watching all the happenings below them, five other children laughed an evil, monotonous chuckle.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	2. Dinner Plans

**7 February 2003**Normal people would be asleep at 5 o'clock in the morning………………but not me! Nope, I'm working on my story. Oh well. Not that I need sleep anyway. Besides, no matter what I wish, I've stopped growing. I would rather work on this anyway next chappie for all you readers, instead of lying in bed staring at the ceiling, getting nothing done.

**8 February 2003** Lesse…………………Um………Well, I saw the episode of **Codename: Kids Next Door** last night. Numbuh 274 was cool!!! As Numbuh 4 put it, though, "His parents are freaks!" Anyway, me thinks I might stick him in this story sometime. Whatcha'll think?

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 1 paced around in his room, reading and rereading the sheet of paper he held in his hand. "I don't understand," he muttered to himself. "Everything is just as it said it should be. And yet that discotheque wasn't a secret lab, and those adults weren't making a kid-torture device."

He thought about if for a minute. "Well, I suppose that would be a good thing in any case, but still…" His eyes reread each line carefully, making sure not to miss any important detail that was possibly overlooked before. "This is the fifth time that something like this has happened. I don't understand. I wish I knew who was sending this information, but they choose to remain anonymous. I can't tell the others that, though, otherwise they'd slaughter me."

Sitting on his bed, Numbuh 1 placed the piece of paper down next to him, removing his thick sunglasses and rubbing his eyes. "If I tried to talk to them, though, they probably wouldn't even hear me. If they did, they probably wouldn't even care."

After the so-called mission that night, the others seemed to be angry at being made fools of…again. Numbuh 1 couldn't blame them, really. He felt just as ashamed as they did, and he hated it. But did they have to be mad at him?

He supposed they could be. After all, he was the leader of the Kids Next Door, and for every failure made, he was somehow responsible. _He _was the one who led them on these missions, and it was based on the information that _he _had received. "But why?" he wondered aloud. "Why am I getting all this false information? Who is sending it? And, if none of the information that they're sending is true, then what could they possibly want?"

Replacing his sunglasses over his eyes, he paced the floor again, trying hard to think. 'Think, Nigel. What could be going on?' His thoughts churned over the possibilities, but in the end, there was no result.

He sighed, the conclusion hitting him hard. He had no idea what was going on. 'Some leader you are, Nigel Uno,' he chastised. 'No wonder the others are ignoring you right now.' The days following the 'mission', Numbuh 1 found it increasingly harder and harder to get the other Kids to listen to him. If he was trying to call their attention, they would just continue doing whatever they were doing.

'So what are you going to do now?' he asked himself. Of course, he had no answer. He felt so angry at himself for being so clueless. He sighed, frustrated, as he began to pace around the room again.

He felt so restless. He just couldn't seem to be able to sit still at that moment. The anger and helplessness in him fueled the agitation burning within. But times such as these were what caused such sleepless nights the past few days. 'It's going to be one of those nights,' he told himself. Luckily, he was able to keep his tired eyes behind the sunglasses, otherwise the others might notice.

Or they might not. He wasn't sure. But as a leader, he wasn't supposed to show signs of weakness. If he did, what would the other Kids think about him? And, if the leader of the Kids Next Door seemed vulnerable, what would others think about their team?

He stopped pacing around after he felt the room begin to spin. As soon as he did stop pacing, the room stopped spinning. 'Well, that wasn't good. I suppose not sleeping for too long is beginning to take its toll on me.'

There was a small growl coming from his midriff section. Looking at his watch, he realized what time it was. 'I didn't realize it was so late.'

Leaving his room, Numbuh 1 walked down the familiar corridors of the tree house. He entered the recreational room, where the others were already were. Numbuhs 2 and 4 were beating each other senselessly on a video game while Numbuhs 3 and 5 were on the couch, reading magazines.

Numbuh 1 cleared his throat loudly, hoping to get their attention. But the others just continued with what they were doing. He tried again, but was met with the same results as before.

He sighed. "Fine," he said. "I know you're all listening, and I know you all know that it's time for dinner. Does anyone know who's turn it is get dinner?"

"Your turn," they all said dully, not stopping what they were doing.

"Are you all sure? Because I thought…"

"Your turn," they repeated, just as dully.

"Fine," he replied, somewhat agitated. "What do you all want?"

"Pizza," they said, same as before.

He growled slightly, unhappy with the response he was getting from them. Turning heel, he walked out of that room, and down the many stairs until he found himself outside, walking down the street to buy pizza for them.

"Well, at least this way I can get out," he muttered to himself. "Maybe later, I won't be as restless as before."

Not paying attention to where he was walking, he didn't notice the piece of concrete protruding out of the curb. He yelped as he tripped, his sunglasses flying off his face.

"Wonderful. I don't need this now." Picking himself off the ground, he brushed the dust off his shirt, dusting himself off. Looking around at the ground, Numbuh 1 discovered that his sunglasses weren't where he thought they would be. As he continued to look at the ground, however, he discovered some pairs of feet standing some distance in away from him.

His eyes trailed upwards, and he groaned inwardly when he saw who was there in front of him. "The Delightful Children from Down the Lane," he all but spat.

"Good day, Nigel," they all said, monotonously. Numbuh 1 nearly cringed, but caught himself from doing so. Though he would never let anyone, especially not _them_, know about this, the Delightful Children from Down the Lane creeped him out. The way they talked, always together, at the same time…It was like they had no personality, no freedom of their own. They always acted as a unit, never as individual people. And the sound of their voices…even when they were angry, they never showed emotion. It was almost like they were less than human.

They all moved towards him, once again, like a unit. Numbuh 1 didn't move, but he felt his body tense up as he kept his defenses up. He was never sure what the Delightful Children were up to, but it was never good.

The blond girl who usually seemed standing up front suddenly held her arm out. In her hand were his thick, black sunglasses.

"I believe you dropped something, Nigel," they said, still monotonously.

An eyebrow cocked up in question. He took the glasses from them, but hesitated in putting them on. One time, Numbuh 5 left her hat behind when she was infiltrating the Delightful Children's mansion, she got it back, but they Delightful Children had left a little 'surprise' for them in the hat.

But there wasn't really much one could do with sunglasses, was there?

"What do you want?" Numbuh 1 asked them.

"Just to return your sunglasses, Nigel."

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

"There's no use for pointless fighting today, Nigel. I have no plans for today. And besides, if we did fight, you would be outnumbered."

Numbuh 1 smirked. "Well, you're right about one thing. There _is_ no use for fighting today. There is no need waste all of our energy in a pointless battle."

"Indeed. Such energy should be conserved for a real fight."

After carefully inspecting his sunglasses, Numbuh 1 deemed it safe enough to actually put them on. Looking at the Delightful Children, he walked past them, not bothering to say anything else.

The Delightful Children watched as Numbuh 1 walked away, until he disappeared around the corner. When he was totally gone, they began to laugh their cruel, monotonous chuckle.

**Transmission Interrupted**

Wow, a chapter finished in two days. Never would have thought it could be done for me. Well, I hope you enjoyed. I know it's kinda short, but if you review nicely, I'll put out as much as I can, and update as soon as I can.

**M L ****Europe** I understand what you're saying, and in some cases you're right. But I kinda like trying to spell their accents out. It's kinda fun.

Oh, I might also want to point out that the Kids Next Door are 11 here. In the show, I think they're only 10. So……………yea.

Cya next time!!!


	3. The Words We Say

Well, I'm having fun. This is story is going really good so far, even better than _I _expected. Thanks for all the reviews!!! You have made me a very happy authoress!

Oh, by the way, there is kinda a point to why I told you all that the KND are 11 instead of 10. Even though there isn't any _real_ difference between the ages, there's a reason that I put that in. It's just coming at a later chapter.

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuhs 2, 3, 4, and 5 sat bored at the dinner table, waiting for Numbuh 1 to bring back the pizza. Numbuh 5 tapped her fingers on the table, impatiently. They all sighed, and Numbuh 3 yawned loudly.

"Man," Numbuh 2 complained. "I'm _hungry_!"

"Me too," Numbuh 3 said.

"Where can Numbuh 1 be?" Numbuh 5 asked.

Numbuh 4 folded his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair so that it stood only on the hind two legs. "'e's prob'ly messing up again," he replied. "Just like 'e always does."

The others in the group looked at him. "Whatchu talkin' 'bout?" Numbuh 5 asked him.

"Ah've been thinkin'……about the past few weeks an' all. Five missions, and all are screw ups."

"What are you getting at?" Numbuh 2 inquired.

Numbuh 4 looked at his feet. "I dunno………I mean, when was the last time we went on an _actual_ mission? Where the info we were given was actually what was goin' on? And the past few weeks…those five missions were so _totally_ off."

"People make mistakes," Numbuh 5 replied. "Nobody's perfect."

"Yeah, 'specially Numbuh 1."

"Listen, Numbuh 4, Numbuh 1 is prolly unda a lotta stress, ya know? Numbuh 5 thinks dat it can't be easy bein' da leada."

"Oh, yeah," the Aussie said sarcastically, "Ah'm sure that bossin' us around is really hard."

"Wouldn't you know?" the round boy asked. "I mean, you did try to replace Numbuh 1 that time he left. You were the leader when he was gone."

"Yeah," Numbuh 3 agreed, "and you were really bad at it, too."

Numbuh 4 felt his cheeks burn slightly, but ignored that fact. "Look, all Ah'm sayin' is, Numbuh 1 'as been slippin' up a lot, lately. 'e's always wrong 'bout ev'ry mission we go on. Ya'd think a 'great' leada like Numbuh 1 wouldn't make that many mistakes."

"Numbuh 4 does have a point," Numbuh 2 mused, rubbing his chin. "I mean, lately, Numbuh 1 seems to jump to conclusions a lot. He's really off his game. Well, he used to do the same thing before, but this is worse than normal."

"That's exactly what Ah'm sayin'!" the Aussie said loudly. "Numbuh 1's always been screwin' up some sumthin'. I mean, do ya'll 'member our mission at 'the Point'?"

The others shuddered slightly, remembering that shameful memory. The Point, where teenagers became 'adults.' Because of what was said, Numbuh 1 had assumed that all the teenagers (whom by the way, he hated anyway) were going up there and using some kind of machine to turn them into adults quicker. When they went up there to get rid of the Point, however, they discovered that it was a simple, harmless roller skating rink.

"Yeah, okay, Numbuh 5 admits dat Numbuh 1 can make bad mistakes sumtimes. So? Big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal!" Numbuh 4 insisted, standing up suddenly, gripping the table. "Ah dunno 'bout the rest of ya, but Ah for one don't like bein' humiliated like that!"

Numbuh 2 nodded. "True."

"But Numbuh 1's a great leada!" Numbuh 5 said, standing up too and gripping the table. They were directly across the table from each other, so it was easy for them to glare at each other. "Numbuh 1's always there for us when we need him, and he's always helpin' us out when we're in trouble!"

Numbuh 2 nodded again. "That's true too."

Numbuhs 4 and 5 looked at him. "Ain't ya gonna take a side?" Numbuh 4 asked.

"Well, you two are arguing about it, and I don't wanna end up in the middle of the argument."

Numbuhs 4 and 5 looked at each other, then back at the rounder boy. "Numbuh 5 thinks that if ya keep talkin' da way ya are, and keep agreein' with the both of us, den yer already stuck in da middle."

Numbuh 2 was about to argue on behalf of himself, but, realizing that she was right, closed his mouth and looked away.

Numbuhs 4 and 5 looked at each other again, the darker girl shaking her head at their comrade's pathetic-ness. Then, suddenly, as if a light switch had been flipped, they were angry at each other again, resuming their argument.

"Face it, Numbuh 5, Numbuh 1's really losin' it!"

"So whatcha sayin', Numbuh 4, dat we should get a new leada?!"

The blond Aussie suddenly shut his mouth, blinking at her for a moment, though his blond bangs covered his eyes. He looked down at the table. "I……I dunno……"

Numbuh 5 gasped. "You were, weren'tcha? You were thinkin' 'bout replacin' Numbuh 1…"

The blond boy growled in a frustrated tone. "Well, can ya bloomin' blame me?!" he yelled. "We need a leada who can keep information organized, who won't screw up ev'ry bloody mission!! Think 'bout it…If we keep screwin' up information, we'll become unreliable as a sector of the Kids Next Door, 'cuz they'll be afraid we'll screw ev'rythin' up!! Do y'know what they do with unreliable op'ratives?!"

"They…replace 'em," Numbuh 5 said quietly.

"Exactly! We need a betta leada, a perfect leada. Someone like…"

"Like Numbuh 274!" Numbuh 3 said happily.

Numbuh 5 looked at her. "Don't tell Numbuh 5 dat ya agree wit him, Numbuh 3."

Numbuh 3 shrugged, a smile on her face. "I dunno," she said. "Numbuh 4 was just talking about a perfect leader, and I thought of Numbuh 274." Still smiling, she began to scratch her head. "What are we talking about?"

Numbuh 5 sighed, shaking her head. 'Totally clueless, totally normal,' she thought to herself. "All Numbuh 5's sayin' is dat maybe sumthin's goin' on wit Numbuh 1, and he's feelin' a bit stressed."

"Well, the only thing that Ah see goin' on with Numbuh 1 is that he's losin' it! He's become……Oh, what's that word that he calls us sometimes?……incompetent!"

Numbuh 5 raised an eyebrow. "Do ya even know what dat means?" she asked.

"Yes!" Numbuh 4 said defensively. "If sumthin' isn't done 'bout this, we're all gonna end up in serious trouble with the Kids Next Door International Headquarters (KND IHQ)!!! They would so kill us!!"

Numbuh 3 watched as Numbuh 4 and 5 argued for a while. Soon, though she began to grow bored of something that she didn't even understand. She'd have Numbuh 5 explain it to her later. Yawning, she looked around the room. When her eyes settled on the doorway, she smiled. "Hi, Numbuh 1!" she said cheerfully.

Numbuhs 4 and 5 stopped, turning towards the doorway to see Numbuh 1 standing there, holding a few boxes of pizza.

"Hello," he said, walking in. Placing the boxes on the tables, he added, "I trust nothing has happened while I was gone."

"No, no…" Numbuhs 2, 4, and 5 all stuttered. "N-nothing happened."

Numbuh 1 raised an eyebrow. "I see."

"You don't think he heard anything, do you?" Numbuh 2 whispered to Numbuh 4 nervously.

Numbuh 4 looked at him, then over at the leader. "Nah," he said, hiding his own nervousness. "Ah'm sure he didn't hear nothin'."

Numbuh 1 opened the pizza box on top, revealing a pizza with various toppings.

The other Kids licked their lips, then began to try and get as many pieces as they could.

Numbuh 1 smiled as he watched them digging in, then turned to leave.

Only Numbuh 5 noticed that he was leaving. "Where ya goin'?" she asked.

He stopped, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder. "I'm not really hungry right now," he informed her. "I think I'll retire early to my chambers tonight."

Even underneath her red cap, Numbuh 1 could feel the concern in her eyes. "I'm fine," he said to her. "You all finish dinner without me."

She somehow didn't believe him, but knew there was no way to say anything to get him to eat. So she, along with the other Kids, continued to chow on pizza.

Numbuh 1 smiled again, then left them, retreating to his room. When he got in there, he closed the door slowly, finally allowing his hand to tremble the way it wanted to when he first arrived back at the tree house.

Leaning against the door, now away from the others, he dropped the emotional mask, allowing how he felt to seep through.

Shakily, he walked to the bed, nearly collapsing on it as his legs gave way. It was bad enough he wasn't sleeping well. But this……this drained whatever energy he had left. He felt so tired………so……disheartened.

He removed his sunglasses, burying his face in the pillow. He soon felt that the cushion was becoming slightly damp, but he didn't care.

'So, is that how they really think of me?' he asked himself. 'Do they really think I'm that bad of a leader?'

He paused as another question filled his head. '_Am_ I that bad of a leader?'

**Transmission Interrupted**

Dun dun dun!!!


	4. The Unsolved and Untold

The more I think and develop this story, the more I like it! It's becoming one of my fav stories that I've ever written, and believe me, that's a lot of stories. Maybe it's because it's my first story that's not been an anime. shrugs Whatever. Anyway, I'll stop babbling now, and let ya'll get started on this chapter. Enjoy!!!

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 1 growled, frustrated, as he turned the page of the book he was reading. Sitting next to him on his bed was a huge pile of books, almost as tall as he was.

Placing the book down, he removed his sunglasses to rub his tired eyes. 'Stupid adult books,' he thought irritated. 'The print is too small and close together. How can _anyone_ read those kind of books?'

But, after replacing his sunglasses on his face, he picked up the book again and started to reread the page he was on, in hopes to understand it.

Normally, Numbuh 1 wouldn't read books such as these. But he needed to. He was hoping that these books would help him with the problem he was having.

Ever since he had heard the other Kids talking about how bad a leader he was, he found all the books he could on about being a leader, hoping to improve, and become the kind of leader that they wanted and needed him to be.

Something was bothering him, though. If they didn't think that he was doing a good job as leader, why didn't they just _tell_ him? Why couldn't they let him know if they wanted him to change so much?

Was it his fault? Had he done or said something wrong that made them afraid to confront him about problems that they wanted changed?

'It has to be,' he told himself. 'I must have done something to intimidate them from approaching me. So, how will I know what they want from me if they won't tell me?'

He sighed, closing the book gently. 'I _do _mess a lot of things up. No wonder they don't like me much. I want to make it up to them, I really do. But how can I when I don't know what they want from me?'

Looking at the book, his saddened expression quickly changed to one of anger. "Well, one thing's for sure," he said, "this book isn't helping at all!"

He threw it as hard as he could, and it flew until it hit the opposite wall, next to the door of his room, with a loud bang, and fell face down on the ground with a light thump.

The door creaked slightly as Numbuh 5 opened it. Poking her head in, she looked down at the floor, spying the book Numbuh 1 had just thrown. She raised an eyebrow in question, then looked over at the bed, where Numbuh 1 was shoving a stack of books into the garbage.

"Homework?" she asked, entering the room.

He looked up at her, about to tell her what he was really doing. He stopped, however, and instead said, "Yeah…Homework…"

She sat down next to him on the edge of his bed. "Numbuh 1, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, ya haven't left yer room fow ova a week, and ya hardly eva eat anythin'. We don't see ya much 'round these days. What's goin' on?"

He looked at her. 'I could tell her,' he thought to himself. 'There's really no point in hiding it.'

"Nothing," he said. "Everything is alright."

"Are you sho?"

'Don't lie to her! Tell her the truth, Nigel!'

"Yes, I'm sure. Everything is fine."

She looked at him. She knew _something_ was up, but she was no good at guessing. She would only know if Numbuh 1 told her. Since he was being stubborn, she had to wait.

Numbuh 1 cursed himself for not telling her how he really thought and felt. 'Some leader…You can't even tell one of your teammates how you really feel and what you're really thinking. Nice going, Nigel.'

There was an awkward silence among the two. After a while, Numbuh 1 cleared his throat to add some sound. "So, is there anything I can do for you, Numbuh 5?"

"Oh…Well, Numbuh 5 just come here ta tell ya that today is new comic book day at da comic shop."

"Right."

"And Numbuh 5 wanted ta ask ya if ya would buy Numbuh 5's magazines for her."

Numbuh 1 raised an eyebrow. "Don't you usually ask Numbuh 4 to do that for you?"

"Yeah, usually, but Numbuh 4 usually complains 'bout it all da time. At least if Numbuh 5 asks you, you won't make a big fuss 'bout it. Numbuh 5 knows ya betta den dat."

He smiled at her, then looked down at the bed. "While I appreciate the thought, I don't feel like going to the comic book store today."

"But ya love new comic book day. As far as Numbuh 5 knows, you've neva missed it."

"Yes, but I really don't feel like going today."

"But ya haven't been outta dis room all week! Dat's not a good thing, Numbuh 1."

"I…I know, but I have some things I need to work on, and…"

"Like what? Nothin's goin' on at the moment. Besides, when didja let a little work stop ya from going to da comic book store? Numbuh 5 thinks dat a little fresh air would be good for ya."

"Numbuh 5…"

"Comon, Numbuh 1. If ya just…"

"I said I'm not going!" he snapped.

Numbuh 5 looked at him, her eyes blinking with surprise. Then, she fell silent, looking down at the floor.

Realizing what he did, Numbuh 1 bit his tongue, wishing he hadn't said that. "I'm sorry," he said, removing his sunglasses and rubbing his eyes. "I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I was just…a little aggravated. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"It's alright," she said. "Numbuh 5 shouldn't have prodded ya so much. If ya didn't wanna go, then Numbuh 5 shoulda just dropped it."

He replaced the sunglasses over his eyes. "Well, you were only doing so out of concern for me."

She nodded.

"May I ask you something?"

"What's dat?"

"Why?"

She looked at him. "What?"

"Why are you concerned? I mean, I don't want to sound rude or anything, but why do you care? The others haven't said anything. So why are you?"

The dark girl stiffened suddenly. She opened her mouth slightly to say something, but no words seemed to come out of her mouth. How was she supposed to say this?

Sensing her suddenly discomfort, Numbuh 1 decided to change the subject. "Listen, Numbuh 5, I haven't been sleeping much lately, and I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to try catching up on some sleep, okay?"

"Sho thin'," she said, getting off the bed, and walked over to the door.

"Wake me if there's anything urgent, okay?"

"Sho." Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it, cursing herself for only now getting the courage to say what she wanted to tell Numbuh 1 when he _wasn't_ there.

"Ya wanna know why Numbuh 5 cares, Numbuh 1?" she asked softly. "It's 'cuz yer always there for Numbuh 5 when she's feelin' down, and Numbuh 5 wants ta do da same for you."

* * *

_Numbuh 5 sighed, staring at the table in front of the couch she sat on. She was in her room, alone with her thoughts. She folded her arms across her chest, trying to decide something._

_"Numbuh 5?" a voice said, and she looked up to see Numbuh 1 standing at the door._

_He approached her slowly. "Numbuh 5, is there anything wrong?"_

_She looked up at him, then back at the table. "Why would there be anythin' wrong?" she said._

_"Well, I've noticed that you seemed a little…depressed lately. I was just wondering why."_

_She looked up at him again, then sighed. Might as well. "Numbuh 5's birthday is tomorra."_

_Numbuh 1 smiled at her. "I know. Happy Birthday."_

_She scoffed. "Yeah, if only it would be happy."_

_"Why? What's wrong with your birthday?"_

_"Numbuh 5's turning 11. Y'know, da official 'preteen' age."_

_She almost chuckled when Numbuh 1 shuddered slightly. He hated teenagers, and even though preteens weren't officially teenagers, they were almost there._

_"Well, so? I mean, turning 11 wasn't that bad. When I…"_

_"Yer a guy, Numbuh 1. It's different for girls."_

_He raised an eyebrow in question. "Really? How so?"_

_"Girls gotta go through different changes. Physical and emotional stuff."_

_"Well, guys go through those too."_

_"Yeah, but girls go through it first 'cuz Numbuh 5's mama says we mature faster."_

_They both shuddered this time._

_That's when Numbuh 1 looked at the table. "Is that a makeup kit?"_

_The dark girl nodded. "Numbuh 5's mama tell Numbuh 5 that, since she's becoming a preteen, Numbuh 5 should act like a young lady. She wants Numbuh 5 ta start wearin' makeup and stuff, like a 'young lady' is supposed ta do." She pushed the kit slightly with her foot. "But Numbuh 5 isn't sho if she wants to wear it, or if she's ready to act like a lady."_

_"Then don't wear the makeup."_

_She looked up at Numbuh 1. "Ya make it sound so simple."_

_"It is simple. If you don't want to wear makeup, then don't wear it. Your mother shouldn't force you to where it if you don't want to. And as for acting like a lady, that should be up to you. She shouldn't push you to act a certain way if you're not ready. That's _your _decision, and it should be nobody else's."_

_Numbuh 5 looked at him, slight astonishment in her eyes. Then, she chuckled softly. "How'd ya get to be such an expert at these kinda thin's?" _

_Numbuh 1 shrugged, walking to the door. "All I know is, makeup is a typical adult/teenager thing, and it's like they're using it to cover their problems. That's all it is, it's a cover-up that they use to hide their faces and themselves. People shouldn't hide themselves besides a false façade."_

_Halfway out, he stopped, looking at her over her shoulder. "Besides, if you did mature, we'd all miss the Numbuh 5 we used to know. And, if it's any consolation, I think you look just fine without makeup." And he left. _

* * *

She sighed, pushing herself away from the door. "Yer Numbuh 5's best friend, Numbuh 1. Sometimes, though, Numbuh 5 wishes it would be more than dat."

**Transmission Interrupted**

Okay, I thought that was kinda cute. See? I told ya'll there was an importance to the age thing!! I dunno if this justifies it thou……………shrugs Well, if it doesn't I don't care. So, hope you enjoyed, please review!!!! (nicely!)


	5. A Sleepless Night for Two

**Continuing Transmission**

"NO!" Numbuh 5 screamed loudly, shooting up from bed. Her breathing was heavy, as her lungs gasped for air. She wiped the sweat on her brow with the back of her arm before slipping her red cap back on.

'Just a dream,' she thought, rubbing her eyes. 'But, why would Numbuh 5 do dat to…?'

"Numbuh 5?" a familiar, accented voice spoke through the darkness. She looked up to see Numbuh 1 amongst the shadows. Even in the dark, he refused to remove his sunglasses. He was wearing his usual outfit, as if he never changed for bed.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Sho. Numbuh 5's fine. Why?"

"I was just passing by your room, when I heard you yell. I came to see what the matter was."

The dark girl looked up at him, then down at the bed sheets. "Guess it was da nightmare dat Numbuh 5 had."

"A nightmare?"

"Yeah."

"I see."

There was a moment of silence, as the dark settled over them. Then, looking up at the boy, Numbuh 5 asked, "What did ya mean when ya said, 'just passin' by'? It's, like, 3 in da mornin'."

"Hm?" he asked, looking at her. "Oh, that. Well, I couldn't sleep again, so I decided to walk around the tree house. I was just passing by when I heard you yell, and came to investigate."

"Ya couldn't sleep 'again'?"

He nodded.

"You turn to a insomniac or somthin'?"

He chuckled softly. "No, nothing like that. I just can't sleep is all."

Another moment of silence passed by, when the young boy turned to his comrade. "Well, I suppose I should let you get back to sleep."

As he turned to go, however, she reached out and grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Actually, Numbuh 1, da nightmare kinda shook me up a bit."

Looking at her, he nodded. "Well, you know what calms me down after I've had a nightmare?"

"Whassat?"

"Some milk and cookies. Care to join me, Numbuh 5?"

She smiled, getting out of bed.

A red streak appeared across Numbuh 1's cheeks as he looked at the large t-shirt the covered his team mate's body and part of her legs. Quickly, he turned away, so his back was facing her. "Um…you might want to put something on…"

She rolled her eyes, grabbing the robe that hung on the bed post at the foot of her bed. She slipped it on and tied the sash around her waist. "Okay, there."

He glanced at her, then nodded, offering his hand to her. Feeling a blush spread over her cheeks, Numbuh 5 thanked the stars that it was dark. Accepting, the two walked down hallway to the kitchen, hand in hand.

'Good thing the othas ain't here,' the dark girl thought with relief. 'They'd be makin' fun of us fow sho. Just like we all did when we found out 'bout Numbuh 1's girlfriend, Lizzie.'

Numbuh 5 bit her tongue at the memory of Lizzie. Numbuh 1's girlfriend. Sure, she had ragged on Numbuh 1 about it like the others did, but that didn't mean that she _wanted_ to. But that was the only way she would be sure that the others wouldn't be suspicious of her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to the others to know her true feelings yet.

When they reached the kitchen, Numbuh 1 went over to the refrigerator and grabbed the milk while Numbuh 5 grabbed a bunch of cookies.

"So, tell me, Numbuh 5," the young boy said, sitting across from her at the table, pouring milk into some cups, "what was this nightmare of yours about?"

Taking one of the cups from him, she sighed. "Well, it started with Numbuh 5 climbin' a mountain with a buncha people…"

"Really? Anyone I know?"

She looked up at him, taking a bite of her cookie, slightly unsure of what to say. 'Should Numbuh 5 tell him that he and the othas were in da dream?'

"No. No one you know."

Numbuh 1 took some cookies from the plate between them. "I see. Go on."

The dark girl wasn't sure if she was glad or not about not telling Numbuh 1 that he and the others were really in the dream. "Well, anyway, we all climbin' up da mountain, right? Da othas were in front of Numbuh 5, and there was dis one guy behind her. Numbuh 5 slipped, but the guy behind caught her. Da otha three got to the top of the mountain before Numbuh 5 and da otha guy. When Numbuh 5 got to da top, da guy asked her to pull the rope so he could get up. Numbuh 5 was gonna, but den da otha three gave Numbuh 5 a knife and told her to cut da rope, so………Numbuh 5 cut it."

She eyed Numbuh 1, who bit into his cookie. What would he say about it?

He chewed thoughtfully for a minute, then swallowed. "It seems to me," he finally said, "that you feel as though you're letting someone down."

"What?" Numbuh 5 asked, taking another cookie.

Taking a sip of milk, he continued. "Well, I'm no expert in dreams, but it seems to me that the mountain in your dream represents a challenge of some kind. You and the others climbing up the mountain seems to mean that you're all trying to overcome that challenge. The one climbing behind you appears to be someone you trust a lot, since he was the one who caught you when you nearly fell.

"When you got to the top, you wanted to help him too. But, you felt cornered by the others, which is why you took the knife and did as they told you to. By cutting the rope, you feel as though you somehow let that person down." He took another sip of milk. "Does that make sense, Numbuh 5?"

She nodded. "But what is Numbuh 5 gonna do 'bout it?"

"The best I can think of is that you do something to help that person as best as you can."

Finishing his milk, Numbuh 1 set the glass down, and Numbuh 5 chuckled slightly.

"What?"

"Ya got a mustache, Numbuh 1."

It took him a minute to understand what exactly what she meant, before he wiped the milk away with the back of his hand. Suddenly, he stood, clearing his throat. "Well, I'm finished. How about you?"

"Yeah, Numbuh 5's done here."

"Would you like me to accompany you back to your room?"

She looked up at him, feeling herself blushing again. 'Numbuh 5's _really_ glad it's dark,' she thought. "No thanks. Numbuh 5 can handle herself."

He gave her one last nod, then walked in the direction where his room was located. "Good night, Numbuh 5," he said, as she got up herself.

"Night," she called back, heading to her own room. Alone in the hallway, with only her thoughts with her, she sighed.

"How is Numbuh 5 s'pposed to help Numbuh 1?" she asked the night quietly. "If Numbuh 5 helps him, will da othas get suspicious? And what's Numbuh 5 s'pposed ta help him with? What's Numbuh 5 gonna do?"

But the night didn't answer her, leaving her with more questions than when she first awoke.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	6. A Dancing Lesson

Like I said, I'm having a lot of fun with this story, and I enjoy writing it whenever I have the inspiration for it (which is, like, almost all the time). But, as someone has pointed out to me, Numbuh 5 really doesn't say her name _all _the time. She only says it when she's being causal. When she's serious, she doesn't. So, for the sake of sanity, yours _and_ mine, I won't have Numbuh 5 say her name like that all the time (that's actually a _lot_ easier for me).

Another thing that someone pointed out to me (or rather, requested of me) is that I add more 3/4. So, this chapter is dedicated to the both of them. If you're wondering about the title, well……You'll just have to wait and see. But let's just say, this is how some of them deal with boredom.

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 4 growled, punching the wall as hard as he could without putting a dent in it. He was _so _bored! "There's absolutely nothin' to do!" he complained loudly, hitting the wall again. He had to remember to control his anger, for if he put another hole in the tree house, Numbuh 1 would come in and rag on him again.

But thinking of Numbuh 1 only seemed to fuel his rage. In all the time Numbuh 1 has been the leader, he couldn't remember when the 'leader' had done any good. He growled again, hitting the wall harder than before, yet still not enough to puncture it.

"All he does is give ordas, or complain about somethin'! And he panics a lot, too! When things are gettin' a little tough, he goes off screamin' like a little girl!"

_You've run off screamin' before, when things got a little tough_, a small voice in his head reminded him. _Everyone here has. You can't blame Numbuh 1 for that, when you yourself have done it._ He ignored it.

He continued banging his fists into wall. He hated being bored. He needed something to do. He wasn't meant to be cooped up inside all day. It was so maddening.

But which was better? Being bored, or going on some 'wild goose-chase' mission?

As he continued his assault on the innocent wall, his mind churned through the past few weeks, particularly the argument he and Numbuh 5 had that one day. "I don't see why she would defend him," he muttered. "She knows as well as I do how much he can mess thin's up!"

_But you know as well as she does that Numbuh 1 _is_ a good leada,_ the voice told him again. _You've tried fillin' in his shoes, remember? It wasn't easy, tryin' to get tha other Kids to listen to ya. And even when you tried, they didn't. So what makes you think that it's any easier for Numbuh 1? Especially when he's trying to get _you _ta listen to him as well as the others. Numbuh 5 must be right, you know? Numbuh 1 isn't givin' you these missions on purpose._

But Numbuh 4 didn't want to listen to the voice. For some reason, he didn't want to the voice in his mind to be right. In his anger, he punched the wall harder, seeming to shake the tree house.

"Hey!" an angry voice yelled at him. Spinning around, he was surprised to see Numbuh 3 standing there. Her hands were positioned on her hips, her foot tapping the floor impatiently, as a pout was set on her face.

It took everything he had not to smile, even just the slightest bit. It took a lot of control to keep a frown, as he thought in his mind, 'Numbuh 3 looks kinda cute when she pouts.'

But then again, didn't he think that she looked cute all the time anyway?

"Hey!" she said again, just as angry. "Stop punching the wall like that! It's too loud, and we can't hear the music! You're ruining my party!"  
A genuine look of confusion swept his face. "Party? What party?"

"My dance party!" She suddenly smiled, grabbing his hand. "Wanna come? It's lotsa fun!"

"A dance party?" he asked. 'Prob'ly with her stuffed animals or somethin',' he told himself.

"Yeah! A dance party! Comon, it'll be fun!"

"No thanks. Ah dun feel like…"

"Oh, comon, Numbuh 4! Please! I need a date for the party!"

The Aussie boy's face faltered. "A…a _date_!"

She nodded. "Yeah! All my guests have one! Please, Numbuh 4!"

He groaned slightly as he looked into her pleading eyes. If it had been anyone else, he would have declined immediately. 'But Numbuh 3……it's so hard to say no to her……'

"Well, Ah…Ah guess, but…"

"Yah!" She dragged him out of his room, and down the hall towards her room.

"But…Numbuh 3," he protested a bit, "Ah…Ah dun know how ta……"

She stopped, turning to look at him. "You don't know how to dance?" she asked, accurately guessing what he was going to say.

He blushed, looking down at the ground.

The silence confirmed her suspicion. "You don't, do you, Numbuh 4?"

"Yeah, so Ah don't!" he said angrily. "Ah don't know how to dance! Okay!"

She tilted her head to the side slightly, causing Numbuh 4 to sigh. He couldn't stay mad at her for long, really.

"How come?" she asked.

He looked at her. "How come what?"

"How come you don't know how to dance?"

He looked down at the ground again. "Ah dunno. Ah just neva learned."

She smiled suddenly, grabbing his hand again, pulling him down the hallway. "Then it's time for you to learn, Numbuh 4!"

"Hey, wait…!" But there was nothing he could say to change her mind.

Upon entering the room, Numbuh 4 noticed there was something different about it. Though the room was still cluttered with stuffed animals, they weren't covering the floor…well, at least not _that_ badly. But…there was something strange about the way the stuffed animals were arranged.

"Uh…Numbuh 3? Why are your stuffed toys arranged in pairs?"

"I told you, Numbuh 4, all my guests have _dates_. So I need one too!"

Numbuh 4 could feel his cheeks burn with heat. He, honestly, was flattered that she had asked him to be her 'date' at this 'party', but something still bothered him a bit. "But couldn't ya 'ave asked someone else?"

He was afraid to hear her answer. If she said yes…he wasn't sure what he'd do.

She looked at him, a look of confusion set on her face, but she smiled suddenly. "Well, I s'ppose I coulda, but I wanted you to come and play with me!"

He blinked. She had somehow answered a yes and no in the same sentence. As she ran over to her sound system to play music, he wondered what exactly she had meant. When he has asked her that question, he was hoping to get some sort of view on how she thought of him. A friend, more than a friend, or something. But with that answer……he wasn't really sure. She had unknowingly dodged it, and he was still as clueless as he had been before.

But did that really matter now? She had asked him to play with her. She had asked him to be her 'date'. He couldn't help but allow the small smile to play on his lips.

Suddenly, up-beat tempo music started up, and Numbuh 3 ran back over to him, dancing. "Comon, Numbuh 4!" she said.

"But Ah dun know how!" he reminded her.

She grabbed his hands, getting him to move his feet. "It's not hard!"

A little confused at first, Numbuh 4 looked down at Numbuh 3's feet. Studying for a minute, he looked down at his own feet, attempting to copy what Numbuh 3 was doing. As he caught into the rhythm of the music, he found that he was swaying his hips as he turned a bit.

Numbuh 3 laughed, grabbing his hand again, spinning under his arm.

About an hour passed, as they continued to dance, laughing and jumping around a bit. Song after song, dance after dance, minutes of countless fun.

After a while, the two took a break, as Numbuh 3 flopped on her bed, and Numbuh 4 stood in front of her, wiping sweat from his brow with his sweater sleeve.

"See?" Numbuh 3 said, breathlessly, sitting up, "I knew you could dance, Numbuh 4."

"Yeah…Well, thanks for teachin' me."

She smiled at him, then got off the bed and went over to the sound system, and changed the CD. "This'll be the last dance for the party."

But Numbuh 4 was slightly surprised when a soft song began playing from the speakers. "Ya can't dance to this."

**I Do, I Do  
****I Do, I Do**

She approached him. "Sure ya can! It's just a different kinda dance."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's called a slow dance."

"A slow dance?" he echoed, slightly surprised. "Isn't that a teenaga thin'?"

She laughed. "No, silly. It's really easy. Here, I'll show ya how."

**All I am, all I'll be  
****Everything in this world  
****All that I'll ever need  
****Is in your eyes  
****Shining at me  
****When you smile I can feel  
****All my passion unfolding**

Taking his hands, he blushed furiously as she placed them on her hips. Then, she placed her own hands on his shoulders, and began to sway softly, taking a few steps to one side, and a few steps to the other.

He looked at their feet, pretending to try copying what Numbuh 3 was doing. He was really looking down so she wouldn't notice the redness of his cheeks, strange shiver running up and down his spine.

**Your hand brushes mine  
****And a thousand sensations  
****Seduce me 'cause I**

He eventually got the whole 'slow dance' thing, but he was still slightly nervous about the whole thing. Still…through his bangs, he looked at Numbuh 3, who seemed blissfully clueless of his uneasiness.

Not that he really minded. He enjoyed being this close to Numbuh 3, even if this was only a game to her. Even if this dance was just for fun, he was really glad to be dancing with her. He just wished that he could tell her that, how he felt.

**I do cherish you  
****For the rest of my life  
****You don't have to think twice  
****I will love you still  
****From the depths of my soul  
****It's beyond my control  
****I've waited so long to say this to you  
****If you're asking do I love you this much  
****I do**

Being her 'date' was the least he could do for her, since she had done so much for him. He could always go to her with a problem, and even if she couldn't help him solve it, just having her there to listen was enough.

Even when they were little, before they were part of the Kids Next Door, she was always there for him when he needed her. He couldn't imagine his life without her there with him.

**In my world, before you  
****I lived outside my emotions  
****Didn't know where I was going'  
****Till that day I found you  
****How you opened my life  
****To a new paradise**

Would things be different now that they were getting older? He knew his feelings for her were getting stronger. But could their relationship change because they were getting older? Would things be different between them?

He wanted to stay friends, at least, even though he knew in his heart he wanted more. But if Numbuh 3 didn't want that, then he would just settle for her friendship.

He knew, though, that he would care for her, no matter what.

**In a world torn by change  
****Still with all of my heart'  
****Till my dying day**

He suddenly felt Numbuh 3's head rest on his shoulder. His breath got caught in his throat as she cuddled up against him. Unsure of what to do, he brought one of his hands up and began to stroke her hair. He couldn't help but smile as the feeling inside him welled up in his soul. It wasn't hard to tell that he was enjoying this. He wanted to stay with her, protecting her, caring for her, just like this.

**I do cherish you  
****For the rest of my life  
****You don't have to think twice  
****I will love you still  
****From the depths of my soul  
****It's beyond my control  
****I've waited so long to say this to you  
****If you're asking do I love you this much  
****Yes I do**

The rest of the dance progressed in silence, the mood surrounding them in a comforting embrace.

**If you're asking do I love you this much  
****Baby I do  
****I'll cherish you  
****This much I know its true  
****From the depths of my soul  
****It's beyond my control  
****I've waited so long to say this to you  
****If you're asking do I love you this much  
****Baby I do  
****Oh oh I do**

As the music faded to an end, Numbuh 4 cleared his throat and pulled away from Numbuh 3, blushing more than ever.

"Well…uh…" he said nervously, "…are we done?"

She nodded, beaming him a smile. "Thanks for playing with me, Numbuh 4," she said cheerfully.

"Sure, no problem. Oh…um…could ya not tell tha othas 'bout this?"

She looked at him, blinking, then shrugged. "Okay."

He let out a relieved breath. "Thanks. Well, Ah guess Ah'll go now." And he scurried out of the room quickly.

She smiled as he left, then let out a small sigh. 'I wonder if it meant as much to him as it meant to me…' she thought.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	7. A Decision Made

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 1 sighed, his eyes darting from one end of the large computer screen to the other. New anonymous information had been sent to him, and he was reading it to make sure of its authenticity.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" he cried. "This is getting ridiculous!" Even for him, this kind of information was getting outright outlandish. Who would believe that a bunch of adults were going to blow up a pizza parlor, anyway?

He began to type some commands into the keyboard, about to delete the message, when a thought entered his mind, causing him to stop. Would it be possible to trace the message from the source?

He growled then, remember that that kind of ability was something that wasn't stored in his own mind. He shook his head, clicking one of the keys and erasing the message.

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. 'There must be some explanation for all this information,' he thought to himself. 'Where is it all coming from?'

There was a sudden beep from the computer, and Numbuh 1 looked up at the computer screen.

'A video message?' he wondered. Curious more than anything else, he pushed the button, allowing the message to come through.

A very familiar face appeared on the monitor, a tuff of blond hair covering his eyes, as a familiar, older voice rang through, saying, "Numbuh 1? Are you there?"

Numbuh 1's eyes shot up to greet his fellow KND operative, but the expression on his face quickly changed to surprise. "Numbuh 274?" he asked aloud.

The older operative smirked. "That's right."

Numbuh 274, the greatest KND operative in history.

After a minute of being awe-struck, Numbuh 1 cleared his throat a bit to regain his composure. "Greetings, Numbuh 274. Um…What can I do for you today?"

"Numbuh 1, I've been looking through your sector's mission log…"

Numbuh 1 cringed slightly. "Um…About that…"

"It seems to me that you're having trouble with something."

The younger boy looked up, nodding slightly. "Are you at KND IHQ right now?"

"Yeah. Luckily, no one else decided to go through you're records, or else you'd all be in some trouble."

Numbuh 1 nodded again.

"So what's been going on over there, Numbuh 1?"

"I…" He let out an exasperated sigh. "I really don't know. Lately, I've been receiving false information from an unknown source."

"An unknown source? Numbuh 1, you know that we're not supposed to take cases like that."

"I'm very aware of that, but what if what they were saying were true? What would I do then, ignore them? Our mission is to help kids. Even if those were totally untrue information, I couldn't risk not seeking them out in the possible event that they were right."

"But then there's always the possibility that they were wrong, just as you've found out…what? 5 times now?"

Numbuh 1 nodded gravely.

"That's why we're only supposed to take missions that the KND satellites pick up."

"I know, but… Isn't our job supposed to help kids anyway? If there are kids who need help, something that isn't detected by our satellites, what are we supposed to do then? We can't ignore them. That isn't what kids do."

Numbuh 274 sighed, knowing full well that Numbuh 1 had a point. It was natural for a kid to yield to a plea for help. It was something that they just did.

"I know, Numbuh 1, but…" That's when the older operative noticed that Numbuh 1 seemed to be distracted by something else. Even with the sunglasses, Numbuh 274 could see the slight hurt in his eyes.

"So, what's wrong?"

Numbuh 1 looked up. "What?"

"This isn't about the missions anymore, is it, Numbuh 1? Something else is bothering you."

There was no point arguing against it. "You could tell, huh?"

"Yeah. So, what's going on? Problems in your sector?"

"I guess you could say that," Numbuh 1 replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I see. So what's going on?"

Numbuh 1 looked down at the computer consul. "Well, because of the false missions, my teammates are becoming a little bit…frustrated…with me."

"I see."

"And…I heard them talking about me…and saying how I was a bad leader…"

"I get it. They're finding it a little hard to trust in you after all these false missions."

Numbuh 1 nodded. "I want to be able to change, and to become a better leader for them, but they refuse to talk about it when I'm around. How can I know what they want from me as a leader if they don't talk to me?"

Numbuh 274 scratched his head. "Can I ask you something, Numbuh 1?"

"What's that?"

"Do consider your teammates just 'teammates'?"

The younger boy looked up at his fellow operative, confusion sweeping his face. "What?"

"Do you consider your teammates just that, or do they mean more to you than that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you just treated the others as your teammates, then you would have more problems than if you treated them as your friends."

Numbuh 1 stared up at him.

"Friends listen to each other, right? They value each others opinions, and they respect each other. Whereas a leader with his teammates, a leader would just do whatever he wanted, without listening to the others, and they would get fed up with their leader."

Numbuh 1 nodded. "I think I understand. But what am I going to do about it?"

"Well, the others are your friends, aren't they?"

"Of course they are."

"Then listen to them, and get them to listen to you. That's what friends do. I'll tell you, Numbuh 1, you are so lucky to have friends like those."

The younger operative looked a bit puzzled. "Lucky?" he asked.

"Yeah, you are."

"Well, what about you? You're one of the most well known and respected operative of the Kids Next Door. Everyone wants to be like you. You even have your own merchandising. All operatives would feel honored and privileged for the chance to meet you."

Numbuh 274 nodded. "That's true. But I would trade all of that for friends like yours."

Numbuh 1 stared in disbelief. "You would?"

"Yeah, I would. When I first became an operative of the Kids Next Door, I had decided to become a lone operative. But I soon realized what a mistake that was. And as I watch other teams, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had a team of my own."

The leader couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Then couldn't you request one? Couldn't you find other operatives to be part of your team?"

Numbuh 274 disregarded that statement with a wave of his hand. "Sure, I could, but you know how long that takes. That's time that I don't have. Plus, you know the procedure that new recruits would have to go through. It's a long process, and someone from the KND IHQ would have to go over there and see what they're like, we'd have to gather information, process that in the main IHQ computer, create a file, and all that stuff. I can't do that, I don't have time for that.

"But for you…You're team is already there with you, and they will be for as long as you all are part of the Kids Next Door. They'll be there to help and support you. They'll be there for you."

"But they're angry with me!" Numbuh 1 reminded him. "What am I supposed to do about that? What can I do?"

"Listen to what they have to say, and get them to listen to you. That's the only thing you can do."

"But what if they don't listen to me?"

"Then you'll have to rethink the way you act towards them. Find ways to be a little less like a controlling leader, and more like a friend."

Thinking about it for a while, Numbuh 1 nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you for the advice, Numbuh 274. I think I understand. You've helped me a great deal."

Numbuh 274 smirked then. "It's what I do," he replied, and suddenly, the screen went blank.

Pressing a button, the computer was turned off, and Numbuh 1 pushed the chair away from the consul. Rubbing his chin, his eyes wandered around the control room, until they settled on a gray file cabinet.

Getting up, he slowly walked toward the file cabinet, opening the second drawer. Inside the drawer were folders, a name written on the tabs of each folder.

'Why are they in alphabetical order?' he wondered as he thumbed through them. '_Beatles, Wallace "Wallabee"_, _Gilligan, Hoagie P. Jr._, _Lincoln, Abigail "Abby"_, _Sanban, Kuki_…'

He stopped when he reached his own file. '_Uno, Nigel_.' Pulling it out, he closed the drawer, and looked through his file. As his eyes rested on one of the pages, they widened.

'Friends listen to each other. So, what are my friends telling me?'

Something clicked in the back of his mind, and it spread throughout, until he finally grasped it, accepting it.

Grabbing a clipboard, he exited the room. He needed to talk to the others immediately.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	8. To Say Goodbye

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 1 paced the stage, hands folded behind his back, as he waited 'patiently' for the other members. He halted for a minute, looking at the empty couch where his teammates usually sat when he called them to this certain area of his room.

Looking at his watch, he let out an exasperated sigh. 'I called them over half an hour ago,' he thought. 'Where are they? What could they be doing?'

He walked over to the podium where he usually stood, and looked at the clipboard resting there. Lifting some papers his eyes settled the one thing that reminded him why he called the others in the first place. "This can't wait any longer," he told himself. And with that, he exited his room to search for the other Kids, taking the clipboard along with him.

He didn't have to look very far, however. As he neared the common room, he heard laughter and music echoing forth. Entering the room, his eyes were met with the site of Numbuhs 2 and 4 having a sword fight with wooden weapons, Numbuh 3 was dancing to the music, and Numbuh 5 was just chilling, reading a magazine.

Numbuh 1 felt slightly angry and offended that the others were just goofing off when he had called them for a very important (at least, important in his opinion) meeting.

Looking around, he found the plug of the sound system projecting the tunes. Grabbing the cord, he pulled it out of its socket.

The others heard the song die down, and they all turned to see Numbuh 1 standing there.

Tossing the cord aside, the leader approached his teammates. "Hello!" he cried, not bothering to hide his anger. "What are you all doing! I called you all for a meeting!"

The other three looked away from their leader in shame, but only Numbuh 4 had the nerve glare at him.

"Yeah, we know," the small Aussie replied. "But Ah figured, wha's tha point a' goin'? So we all stayed behind."

Numbuh 1 looked at him. "I see. Was this your decision, Numbuh 4?"

He shrugged. "Ah s'ppose it is."

"Ah. Did you instruct the others to stay behind?"

"Yeah."

"And was it in your authority to make that command, Numbuh 4, when I called you all for a meeting?"

"Uh, well…"

"No, it wasn't. You had no right to do that, Numbuh 4."

The leader looked up at all of them, keeping the blond boy in his line of vision.

"When I call a meeting, especially one as important as this one, I expect you all to attend, is that understood?"

"Wha's so important about this one!" Numbuh 4 boomed. "Tha's what you said before! Do ya 'memba those, Numbuh 1! Do ya 'memba when ya wanted us to meet for some 'important' information!"

Numbuh 1 nearly cringed at the memory of those past failed missions. "Yes, well, this has nothing to do with those…"

"Ah somehow have a feelin' that this has everythin' ta do with those!"

Numbuh 1 sighed. "Well, you're right, in a way, but not in the way you think."

Numbuh 4 folded his arms across his chest. "Well, whateva it is, Ah dun think Ah feel like hearin' it."

"Numbuh 4, I think that if you just…"

"Well, ya wanna know what Ah think!" Numbuh 4 interrupted, his anger getting the better of him. "Ah think that you're a _horrible_ leada!"

Silence suddenly flooded the room, as the words left Numbuh 4's tongue. It only took him a second to realize what he had said, before he clamped his hand over his mouth. He knew, however, that nothing he could do would reverse the course of time and take back what was just said.

The others looked on at Numbuh 4, surprised that he admitted those words right then and there, then over to Numbuh 1, afraid of what his reaction might be.

But their leader, surprisingly, seemed not to be affected by the words of his teammate.

"It's alright," Numbuh 1 said, his accented voice breaking the thick silence, "Numbuh 4 was just stating his opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Isn't that right, Numbuh 4?"

The small Aussie didn't say anything, unsure if the leader was just using this as a way to trap him.

"I just have one question for all of you: Do you all feel the same way?"

Nothing was said. The others were all afraid to say anything. They agreed with Numbuh 4, to a certain degree, but they were afraid to admit that.

Their leader took their silence as a confirmation. "I see," he said, and turned so that his back was facing them.

Silence once again settled over the preteens, as a thick tension lurked throughout the room.

Finally, Numbuh 4 boldly, hesitantly, broke the silence. "Wait, so…ya ain't mad?"

Numbuh 1 looked at him over his shoulder. "No, I'm not."

Some of the anxiety seemed to seep out of the area.

But not all of it. Numbuh 5 observed Numbuh 1 a bit, and noticed that he seemed to be telling the truth. She knew him very well, they all did, and they could tell if Numbuh 1 was just saying something, or if he really meant it, by the sound of his voice. It really seemed as though he wasn't mad. Though she was slightly relieved herself, she couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't upset.

Numbuh 1 turned to face them all. "In fact, if you all _had_ come to the meeting as I had asked you to, you would have known that I wasn't mad."

"What do ya mean?" Numbuh 2 asked.

Numbuh 1 sighed, looking at the ground. "Numbuh 4 is right," he said tightly.

"What?" they all asked.

"Numbuh 4 is right. I'm a terrible leader. I've been fooling myself all these years thinking that I can do this job right."

Silence once again began to drown them. Was this really coming from _their_ leader? The Numbuh 1 that they knew?

"Numbuh 1…" Numbuh 4 said, a little shocked, "Ah…"

He held up his hand, silencing his fellow operative. From the clipboard, he pulled out a manila folder. Tossing the clipboard aside, he held up the folder to the others. "Do you all know what this is?"

"A folder?" Numbuh 3 suggested.

The leader, in spite of himself, chuckled at her humorous attempt. "Yes, Numbuh 3, it is a folder. It's an information packet, specifically _my_ information packet, containing everything that is needed to know about me. About my life before and during my time in the Kids Next Door, and anything that you need to know about me.

"Packets similar to this one are used in every sector of the Kids Next Door, for each and every operative, along with the identification that they belong to that certain sector. Every operative needs one of these to insure that they are a member of the Kids Next Door."

And, to the other Kids' horror, before their very eyes, Numbuh 1 ripped the file, and all its contents, right in half.

"What're you doin'!" Numbuh 5 asked.

"You all deserve better than this," he replied, pointing to the pieces fluttering to the ground. "You all deserve a better leader than me."

"You can't do this!" the dark girl argued.

"It's too late now. It's already been done." He turned, his back facing them again. "As I've said, that packet is needed to ensure certification of my being a member of the Kids Next Door. Without it, I don't belong here."

"What're we s'pposed ta do, then!" Numbuh 4 asked, trying to suppress the guilt welling inside of him.

"Yeah!" Numbuh 2 said. "We need a leader!"

"So Numbuh 5 will take charge. She's always been levelheaded enough for the job."

"But what about you?" Numbuh 3 asked.

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure you can carry on without me."

"But…"

"Without the packet, I can't stay here. I have to leave."

And, he was about to, taking steps toward the open window, when Numbuh 5 ran up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, getting him to stop.

"You _can't_ do this," Numbuh 5 insisted. "You can't leave us…We need you, Numbuh 1…"

He wanted to turn around, look her into the eyes, tell her that he didn't want to leave either. But he knew that this was for the best of all of them. So instead, he shook his head, pulling away from her touch.

"You don't need me," he informed her. "You need a better leader. A leader who can keep information organized, who won't screw everything up."

Numbuh 4 recognized those words immediately, as that familiar conversation rang back to him. "Ya…ya heard us…that one night…talkin' 'bout ya……didn't ya, Numbuh 1?"

He nodded. "And ever since then, I've been trying to figure out what I've been doing wrong, and trying to think of ways to change. But I see now that the only thing wrong is _me_, and nothing I can do will fix the mistakes I've made.

"That's why…I think this is for the best."

Numbuh 5 shook her head, trying her best to keep the tears tucked away. "That's not true…You can't…"

His hand went up to his face. "Just like these sunglasses are used to protect one's eyes from the sun," he whispered softly, yet loud enough for the others to hear, "a leader is supposed to protect his teammates…even by protecting them from something such as humiliation. That was the obligation I took when I became an operative for the Kids Next Door, and this is the only way I can fill that obligation…to all of you…"

"Numbuh 1…" the dark girl said, knowing that there was nothing she really could do.

"Since…I'm no longer a member here, I…I suppose that…you should just call me…Nigel…"

The sunglasses suddenly fell to the ground, creating a small clatter, as Numbuh 1 – Nigel – walked to the window, standing on the sill. And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. He hadn't even bothered…to look back…

**Transmission Interrupted**


	9. A Glimpse into the Past

Hi all!!!!! Wow, thanks for all the reviews!!! I never expected this much when I started!!! Now I feel really special!!!! Okay, first of all I'd like to point out to some who think that Nigel committed suicide (you know who you are), that he didn't. When he jumped out the window, he just flew away (y'know, with his jet boot things. He can fly with those!! ). Anyway, just letting you know. Okay, now, to introduce this story, I would like you all to meet the news announcer person!!

**News announcer person: **When last we left this story, Nigel Uno had officially left as leader of the Kids Next Door. In doing so, he had left behind his trademark sunglasses, the symbol of his leadership, as he said, "Just like these sunglasses are used to protect one's eyes from the sun, a leader is supposed to protect his teammates…" But what exactly did he mean by that? Where did he get that saying? Where did he get those sunglasses? And how did he become the leader of that sector's Kids Next Door? The answers, in this authoress' interpretation, lie in this next chapter. So read and enjoy.

A BTW, I don't own the Kids Next Door. There are some original characters in this chapter, but they're kinda important.

**Continuing Transmission**

The lights flickered slightly, before finally coming on, illuminating the large interior of the tree house.

The five kids, four sitting on the couch and one standing in front of them, looked up at the lights.

"It's about time we fin'lly got da lights on in here," a dark skinned girl said, pulling her cap down a little lower over her eyes.

"Ah know," a small blond boy, Australian by his accent, said. "We've been sittin' in tha dark for how long now?"

"Well, Abby, Wallabee, it's not like you two were doing anything to help matters," a bald, British boy, the one boy standing, replied to them.

"Ah didn't see you doin' anythin', Nigel."

"Because they told us to stay here."

A round boy, removing the pilot's helmet from his head and scratching his head, looked at Nigel. "And…who were…_they_…again?"

Nigel sighed, shaking his head. "_They_, Hoagie, are operatives from the Kids Next Door International Headquarters, or KND IHQ. They're here to help us get started."

"Get started on what?" an Asian girl asked cheerfully, playing with her long black hair.

"Doncha 'memba, Kuki?" Abby asked. "Those guys from the KND IHQ or whateva are here to help us start with own Kids Next Door."

"Not to start our own Kids Next Door," Nigel corrected her, "but to settle into our own sector, where we'll set up our own base, and do our part to stop adult oppression around us."

Hoagie placed his helmet back on. "That sounds like a lot of work, Nigel."

"Not much fun at all," Kuki said.

"Yeah," Wallabee agreed. "Ah thought the whole point of us joinin' this organization was to get rid of stupid adult stuff."

"That _is_ the point, Wallabee, but in order to do that, we have to get set up first. The Kids Next Door is a complex operation, with sectors all over the world, stopping adults who are oppressing kids' freedom. That's why we have some other operatives, Numbuhs 17 and 18, helping us set up our sector, and they will help us familiarize with all the KND procedures."

"Yeah?" the Aussie boy said. "Well, they sho are takin' foreva."

"They're making sure everything's in place," Nigel said.

"Does it really take that long?" Hoagie wondered.

Kuki had begun to play with Abby's braid, but Abby pulled her hair away from the perky girl, neither paying attention.

"Hey!" Nigel said, placing his hands on his hips. "When you all were complaining about how adults are always bossing you around, you asked me if there was anything I could do about it. So I looked up the Kids Next Door. I even asked if you all wanted to join, and you said 'yes.' Since we're going to be part of the Kids Next Door, it's part of our job to stop adults who are trying take away kids' freedom. We all agreed to do this together, didn't we?"

"Yes," they all replied.

"So, then this requires some sacrifice. I know it seems like a lot of hard work, but won't it be worth it?"

They all nodded.

Nigel smiled. "Don't worry. We're all in this together."

Hoagie nodded. "Well, I guess it won't be so bad since we're all doing it."

"Yeah," Wallabee agreed. "As long as I get ta kick some grown-up butt."

"Tha's a sho thin'," Abby said. "Abby's in, too."

"Me too!!" Kuki said gleefully.

The British boy nodded. "Now, I think it would be wise if we went over some of the Kids Next Door protocol that we already know. So, we should start with…"

Standing at the entrance, leaning against the doorframe was a young girl, about eleven in age, sunglasses covering her eyes. She watched the young nine-year-olds as the one boy standing was testing his friends. Checking her files, she discovered that those kids had been friends since they were all five.

Looking up again, she marveled at how the British boy, Nigel, took charge and responsibility of this whole situation. She remembered that, when she first started, that she had acted similar to what the others were acting, because she was nervous of the whole thing. But this Nigel boy…

She suddenly heard footsteps, as her fellow operative entered the room. "Well, Numbuh 17," he said to her, and loud enough for the other kids to hear, "things seem to be clear here, huh?"

She nodded.

"Well, what do you think? We're pretty much done here, huh? We just need to explain how everything works, right?"

"Actually, Numbuh 18," she said, "there are still some other things that we need to do."

"Huh? Oh, that." He looked over at the younger kids, who were watching both of them. "Why don't you all come here? We have some things to discuss."

Those on the couch got off, and all five of them walked over to where Numbuh 17 and 18 stood.

"Now," Numbuh 18 said, looking at them, "we've set and hooked up everything, and later, we'll be explaining it to all of you. But right now, as Numbuh 17 has reminded me, we need to assign all of you a number. Also, you need a leader. Now, normally, we would let you decide among yourselves. Anyone think they're up to the challenge?"

All the younger kids looked away.

Numbuh 18 sighed. He knew that getting kids, or adults for that matter, to volunteer for anything was difficult.

Tapping her partner's shoulder, Numbuh 17 leaned forward and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, listening to what she had to say. "Who'd ya have in mind?"

Pulling out a folder from the various ones she held, she handed it to him.

Raising an eyebrow, he took the folder, opening it enough to thumb through it. "Nigel Uno?"

The others turned to look at Nigel, standing in the back, who, in turn, had a surprised look on his face.

"Me?" he asked, stepping forward.

Numbuh 18 shrugged. "I don't know. Do you think you can handle being the leader?"

"Well, I…I don't know…I…"

"Comon, Nigel," Abby said. "Y'know ya want to. Besides, Abby thinks you'll make a good leada."

Nigel looked over at his best friend. "You really think so?"

She smiled, nodding.

He looked back at Numbuh 18. "Well…I-I guess…"

"Great," the older boy said, writing it down. "Now, for your number…" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Numbuh 17, what Numbuhs are available right now?"

She handed him a list.

Looking over it, he bit his tongue a bit. "How about……Numbuh……1?"

"N…N-Numbuh…1?" the young British boy repeated.

"Well, it's available, because our old Numbuh 1…grew up…a few months ago…"

Everyone shuddered slightly.

"So, how about it Nigel? Or should I say, 'Numbuh 1'?"

"I…I don't know if I should…I mean, Numbuh 1? Isn't that such an honorable number? The first number?"

"Well, technically, zero is the first number," Hoagie pointed out.

Nigel ignored him. "I'm just a new member. Should I really have that number?"

Numbuh 18 shrugged. "I don't see why not. What do you think, Numbuh 17?"

"I think it's okay."

"What about the rest of you? Do you think that Nigel should have that number?"

Wallabee just shrugged. "Whateva."

"I think it actually suits you," Hoagie said.

"Yeah, Numbuh 1!!" Kuki cheered.

Abby placed a hand on Nigel's shoulder. "Way ta go, Numbuh 1," she said.

But Nigel was still slightly unsure of all this. 'Leader?' he thought. 'Numbuh 1? Can I really handle all this responsibility?'

"Now, for the rest of your numbers…" Numbuh 18 said.

Looking up, Nigel saw Numbuh 17 looking at him, then nodding her head away from the rest of the group. As she walked away, he followed her.

"So, what's wrong, Numbuh 1?" she asked when there was some distance between the two and the group.

He looked down at the ground. "It's just that…I don't think I'm worthy enough for all this."

"Worthy enough for what?"

"For everything. I'm not sure if I _can_ be leader. And being Numbuh 1…I don't know about this."

She shrugged. "Well, what are you afraid of?"

"I…I guess I'm just scared of…letting everyone down."

She sighed, sympathetically. Removing her sunglasses, she held them in her hands. "You know what being leader is about, right?"

"I think so. Isn't it about taking charge, organizing, making sure everything gets done?"

"Well, that's half of the job."

"Then…what's the other half?"

"Well…" She looked at the sunglasses in her hand. "It's kinda like these sunglasses."

The eyebrow that was raised indicated that he didn't understand.

She held out her sunglasses to him. "Sunglasses are used to protect a person's eyes from the harmful rays of the sun, right?"

He nodded.

"It's just like a leader. A leader is to protect his team, and the people, from harm. In this case, as leader, you must protect your team and other kids from the harmful repression of adults. Do you think you're up to that?"

"I…I think so…"

"Well," she said, placing the sunglasses in his hand, "in case you forget what a leader must do, these will help remind you."

"Your……your sunglasses?"

"Use them to remind you of a leader's _true_ mission. So whaddya say? Will you take them, Numbuh 1?"

Looking up at her, Nigel smiled as she did, nodding.

"Thank you," he said, slipping them on.

She chuckled, looking over him. "The shades definitely look better on you," she said. "Definitely very leader-like."

She extended her hand out to him. "Welcome to the Kids Next Door……Numbuh 1."

Numbuh 1 smiled, clasping her hand in a handshake.

**Transmission Interrupted**

**News announcer person: **And there you have it. A look into the past of how Numbuh 1 got his sunglasses and how he became the leader. And now, we return you to the current time of the Kids Next Door.

The chapter's over!

**News announcer person: **Oh………Well, then stay tuned for the next chapter, where we will return you to the current time of the Kids Next Door. Please review, and see ya soon!


	10. Secrets Revealed

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 5 knelt down, her eyes fixed on the discarded sunglasses as she picked them up off the ground. After staring at them for what seemed like a perpetuity, she held them close to her, closing her eyes to prevent any tears from squeezing out.

'I…I can't believe he's really gone…' she thought. 'He…he really left…And, it's all because…he thought we would be betta off without 'im.'

She stood suddenly, anger kindling her body, as she turned to look at her other crestfallen teammates.

Her eyes settled on Numbuh 4.

"You…!" she hissed, walking towards him.

The blond Aussie jumped back as she tried to lunge towards him, but Numbuhs 2 and 3 grabbed her arms, preventing her from doing so.

"Dis is all your fault!" she yelled, trying to break away from the others.

"Mah fault! How is all this mah fault!" he asked defensively.

"If you hadn't a' said all those things 'bout Numbuh 1, he wouldn't have left!"

"Ah was only tellin' tha truth!"

The dark skinned girl was finally able to pull her arms free from the other two. "But didja hafta be so harsh 'bout it! I mean, would it have killed ya not to blame like dat! Couldn't ya have just said what he needed ta hear without drivin' him away!"

Guilt flashed in his eyes, and coursed through his body. But he looked back up at her. "Yeah, well, Ah didn't see _you_ tryin' to help him any just then!"

She lowered her fist, as the thought occurred to her.

"Ah mean, ya didn't _hafta_ agree with me! When he asked if anyone agreed, ya could've said somethin'! Maybe then, he mighta stayed!"

'He's right,' she realized. 'I didn't say anythin'…If I had…maybe he wouldn't have left…'

She couldn't bare the idea that it was _her_ fault that Numbuh 1 had left, that he was gone because of _her_. But it was.

'It's not my fault,' she tried to tell herself.

_But it is_, another voice told her.

'No! It's not!'

_You should have spoken up before. But since you didn't, he's gone. It's because of you._

'But…'

_There's no excuse. You should have said something. You had your chance. And now, he's gone._

The Quiet One gave in. 'It's my fault…It's my fault!'

She ran, away from them. She didn't want to be there. It was too painful, she had to get away. As she ran back to her room, silent crystalline tears streaked down her cheek.

Numbuh 4 turned away, the guilt in his heart growing with every passing moment. Numbuhs 2 and 3, concerned for their friends, looked at each other. Exchanging tacit glances, Numbuh 2 ran off after Numbuh 5.

Numbuh 4 clenched his fists tightly, and he could feel the nail digging into his skin. He felt terrible. He had just been responsible for his leader leaving, and then he tried to redirect the blame onto Numbuh 5. 'Wondaful…' he thought sarcastically to himself. 'Is there anythin' ya can do right? Yeah maybe……in my dreams……'

He suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. He turned to Numbuh 3, rubbing his sore scalp. "Whaddya do that……?" He stopped in mid-sentence, however, when saw that that Asian girl had tears in her own eyes.

"Why'd ya hafta go and do that!" she asked. "You hurt Numbuh 1's feelings, and then Numbuh 5!"

The tears suddenly began to flow, streaming down, as she began to sink to her knees.

"Numbuh 3…!" He caught her in his arms, gently lowering her to the ground, until she was sitting down and he was kneeling beside her.

She buried her head into his chest, her tears dampening his orange sweatshirt. He said nothing as she cried. He simply held her as she trembled in his arms.

Hours seemed to pass until Numbuh 3's sobs diminished into sniffles. After drying her tears, she looked up at Numbuh 4. "Numbuh 4, I'm sorry…I-I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright Numbuh 3," he said, looking away from her. "Ah deserve it anyway. Ah only mess thin's up."

"That's not true!"

"Yeah it is. Ah can't do nothin' right."

"Don't say that, Numbuh 4!"

"But it's true. First, Ah drive Numbuh 1 away, then Ah upset Numbuh 5, and you too. Ah'm an idiot."

"No, Numbuh 4…"

"Ah've messed everythin' up! Maybe…maybe it shoulda been me insteada Numbuh 1…"

"No!" she cried, grabbing his sweatshirt and burying her head deeper into his chest. "Stop talking like that! Numbuh 1's already gone! I don't wanna think about losing you too!"

He felt that she was crying again, but for a different reason this time.

"I don't want you to leave! I can't even think about that! I can't imagine what it would be like without you!"

"Numbuh 3……Ah……"

"I don't want you to leave me!"

His heart broke, as she began to sob again. Gently, he wiped her tears away, then placing his finger under her chin, he lifted her head up, so that they were looking into each others eyes.

"Numbuh 3," he said soothingly, "Ah'll neva leave ya."

She sniffled. "Y-you pr-promise?"

He smiled softly, nodding. "Yeah. Ah promise."

He pulled her into a firm, tender embrace, and whispered in her ear, "Ah care too much 'bout you ta leave you."

Hearing those words, she pulled back. "What do you mean?" she asked.

He flushed, looking down at the ground, away from her wondering gaze. "I's jus' that…Ah…" How was he going to say this?

"You what?"

He looked into her eyes. ''ere goes nothin'.' "Ah…Ah like you Numbuh 3…Ah like you a lot…"

She tilted her head to the side slightly, before a smile appeared on her face. "I like you a lot, too, Numbuh 4!" she said.

"No…Ah-Ah dun mean it that way……Ah mean…Ah really _really_ like you……"

Her smile slowly faded, as she began to understand his meaning. "You……y-you do?"

He nodded. "Ah……Ah've really liked ya for a long time, and……" He felt his cheeks burn again, and he closed his eyes, waiting for her rejection.

But it never came. "I…I like you a lot too, Numbuh 4," she repeated, a little quieter this time.

He looked at her, about to tell her again that that wasn't what he meant, but stopped when he noticed the serious look on her face, as she looked to the side, her cheeks tainted a light ruby color, and her raven bangs fell over her eyes.

He had always thought that she looked pretty. But now……he couldn't take his eyes off her.

That's when the real meaning of her words struck him. "Ya do?"

She nodded, still not looking at him. "The reason……that I act the way I do is because……because you're around……And, when I'm with you……I dunno, I just feel……happy……"

Numbuh 4 stared at her. She really liked him. He couldn't believe it. After all the years of dreaming, hoping, and wondering, he finally knew how she felt about him. And, lucky for him, it was what he was hoping for all along.

Slowly, he leaned forward, until his lips gently pressed against hers. She didn't resist; rather, she leaned into the tender kiss, deepening it, as neither wanted to never let go.

The kiss was soon broken, as Numbuh 3 once again buried her head in his chest. "Numbuh 4…I'm kinda scared…"

"'Bout what?"

"Well…Since Numbuh 1 left……I'm afraid that…our team's gonna…break up…"

"No it won't," he said.

"How do you know?"

"Ah'm not gonna let it. Since Numbuh 1 left because of what Ah said, Ah'm gonna keep our team togetha. And, Ah'm gonna try ta get Numbuh 1 back."

"But he tore up the information packet-thingy."

"Well, Ah'll get tha info from the KND IHQ. Ah'm sure they'll have somethin' there."

He looked down at her, a smile on his face. "So dun worry. Ah won't let anythin' 'appen to our team."

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise, everythin's gonna be okay."

* * *

Numbuh 2 ran down the familiar corridor to Numbuh 5's room. He was really worried about her. Running off the way she did……it wasn't like her. She was usually so calm and laid back. But this……this wasn't the Numbuh 5 he knew. This wasn't the _Abby_ he knew. Even before they were the Kids Next Door, she was the one who usually kept common sense when things between them got tough. He always looked up to her, just like he looked up to Numbuh 1. 

He noticed the door to her room was slightly ajar. Slipping in, he looked around until he found her lying on her bed.

Her red hat lay next to her, and her face was buried into her pillow.

"Numbuh 5?" he asked timidly.

"Go away," she muffled.

But he didn't. Instead, he sat down on the bed next to her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. He pulled it back, however, when her shoulders trembled under his touch, and a sob escaped her lips.

"Numbuh 5? Are…are you…crying?"

"No!" she said, still muffled in her pillow.

But he didn't believe her. "You are, aren't you? You're crying…"

She growled, slightly frustrated, gripping the pillow. She didn't want him to know. She didn't want anybody to know.

But it was too late now. He knew. Sighing, she lifted her head, wiping away her tears.

It was slightly unnerving to Numbuh 2 to see someone like Numbuh 5, so calm and collected, crying liking that. The two sat in silence for moments.

"What's wrong?" he asked after awhile.

"Nothin'."

"I don't believe that. You wouldn't have been crying like that if it was nothing."

She said nothing, instead just stared at the wall ahead of her.

"Look, I know you're upset about Numbuh 1 leaving. We all are. But…"

"I's not jus' that!" she told him, looking at him over her shoulder.

"It's not? Then what?"

She turned onto her back, then sat up, looking at him. "Ferget it. Jus' ferget it."

He watched as she slipped on her red hat. "Um…can I ask you something?"

"What?" she asked, almost bitterly.

"Why do you always wear that hat?"

She looked at him, almost in disbelief. "Doncha 'memba who gave Numbuh 5 dis hat?"

"…Not exactly…"

"My ninth birthday party?"

After thinking about it for a minute, the memory came back to him. "Oh, yeah. Num – Nigel – gave you that hat, didn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't he give you that hat because he couldn't think of anything to get you?"

"I guess."

"But that's your favorite hat, huh?"

"Yup."

Silence settle around the two again, before Numbuh 2 cleared his throat.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"What?"

"Do you…do you _like_ Num – Nigel?"

"Sho I do. He's my best friend."

"But……Do you _like_ like him?"

She stiffened, looking up at him, before looking away.

"You do, don't you?"

"Yeah, so what!" she practically yelled at him. "It don't matta."

"Well, have you told him?"

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"'Cause Numbuh 1 already has a girlfriend."

"You mean Lizzie?"

"Who else would I be talkin' 'bout?"

Numbuh 2 looked at the ceiling. "Well…he doesn't really…" he muttered.

But Numbuh 5 heard him. "What?"

He looked at her. "Um…well…I wasn't supposed to say anything, but…"

"You betta tell me if ya know what's good for ya."

"Well…I kinda went into Numbuh 1's room one time, and I found a letter on his bed from Lizzie. Numbuh 1 told me not to tell, but…"

"But…?"

"……Numbuh 1 and Lizzie broke up because Lizzie moved away."

"She what!" Numbuh 5 asked, not sure if she could believe what she heard.

He nodded. "She moved away a couple of months ago."

A flicker of hope sparked in her heart, but she shook it away. "But I still can't tell him how I feel…"

"Why not?"

"_Because_…I mean, what if he still likes Lizzie? Just because they broke up doesn't mean he don't like her no more. I bet da only reason dat he broke up with her was 'cuz long-distance relationships don't work."

Numbuh 2 shrugged. "Maybe. If you talk to him, you'll find out."

"I dunno…"

"Come on, Numbuh 5. You'll never know if you don't tell him."

She looked away. "Well, it don't matter now. I can't talk to him anyway."

"But…Numbuh 5…"

"Numbuh 1 put me in charge since he left. I gotta get ta work. There's a lotta stuff ta do since he left."

She got up, walking away, leaving Numbuh 2 alone, trying to collect and gather her thoughts. 'Numbuh 1 broke up with Lizzie……he musta been upset……and now, we drove 'im away.'

She sighed. 'How am I gonna live with myself now? What am I gonna do?'

**Transmission Interrupted**


	11. A Late Night Visit

**Continuing Transmission**

In the black, night sky, the moon rose to shed light on any pedestrian caught in the storm of darkness. By her royal command, the stars came to join her, playfully twinkling around her.

The evening wind blew by, singing its mournful lullaby for anyone who wanted to listen. As it did so, loose leaves from the Kids Next Door tree house were caught in the current of air, some touching the ground, and others, carried away to a place no one knew where.

One of the leaves caught in the breeze landed at a pair of feet. The owner looked down at the green leaf, its hue darkened by the night air.

The on-looker watched as the wind picked up again, taking the leaf away to the place where the other leaves had been collected by the current.

Nigel sighed, looking up at the large tree fort that had been built there. He felt the same as the leaf, his mind and thoughts shifting as the wind did.

**Right now I feel  
****Just like a leaf on a breeze  
****Who knows where it's blowing?  
****Who knows where it's going?**

He walked up to the door, his hand reaching out to ring the doorbell. He knew that the bell would be heard throughout the entire tree house. And he knew, if he rang the bell for a while, Numbuh 5 would awake, and come to answer the door.

But Nigel pulled his hand away, afraid to ring the door bell. He was worried that someone else would answer the door, and he would have to explain his reason for being there.

It was strange. He had never been afraid to face his teammates before.

'But they're not my teammates anymore,' he reminded himself. 'Maybe that's why.'

He had to talk to Numbuh 5, though. Now that he couldn't be around her everyday, he had to tell her how he felt about her.

**I found myself somewhere I  
****I never thought I'd be  
****Going 'round in circles, yeah  
****Thinking about you and me**

'But what would I say to her?' he just realized. 'How would I tell her?'

**And how do I explain it  
****When I don't know what to say?  
****What do I do now?  
****So much has changed**

He decided then that waking her wouldn't be the best thing to do. He wasn't sure what to say to her.

But he needed to see her. Looking up, he stepped back to see the window that led to Numbuh 5's room.

Getting an idea, he pressed the button on his jet boots, the heat lifting him off the ground. The only thing he was worried about was that the jets would be too loud, and it would wake them. However, they seemed to be quiet enough for the job.

He was slightly surprised that his Super Defense Array wasn't going off at this point, trying to blow him off the property. Had he turned it off again? He had a strange habit of doing that.

He had been told that after he had finished building the Defense Array, and Numbuh 5 had gotten him to go to sleep, they had tried to turn it on, but they didn't know the access code. Nigel knew he should tell them, so they would be safe, but he was afraid to. He had, for some reason, created the name 'Abby' to be the access code. He didn't want to tell the others, because he was afraid of how Numbuh 5 would react to it. Now that he was here, though, he had to remember to turn it back on.

Of course, he never would have expected to be returning to the tree house this way. In fact, he had never thought he would be returning at all. There had been times, during his leadership of the Kids Next Door, that he wanted to get away from it all. The responsibility, the pressure, from everything.

He might have, too. He might have……if it hadn't been for Numbuh 5.

**Nothing I have ever known  
****Has made me feel this way  
****Nothing I have ever seen  
****Has made me wanna stay  
****Here I am, ready for you  
****I'm torn and I, I'm falling  
****I hear my home calling  
****Hey, I never felt something so strong  
****Oh no  
****It's like nothing I've ever known**

He landed on the window sill, facing the dark girl sleeping peacefully. Slowly, he walked towards her, his heart beating with every step. He found it becoming slightly difficult to breathe, yet turning around was never an option.

He reached the bed, looking on her beautiful face. As she slept, Numbuh 5 held the red hat that he had given her for her birthday in her hands.

He wasn't really sure when he had fallen for Numbuh 5, Abby, his best friend. Maybe it was because she was always there for him. She was always there to help him when he needed to talk to someone. She had helped him through tough times, and reminded him what was for the best.

Abby had been there for him, when he wanted her around or not.

**You're the one I'm looking for  
****You're the one I need  
****You're the one that gives me  
****A reason to believe**

When he had left, he felt so weird. He had felt that there was some kind of emptiness inside, some incompletion. The hole in his heart, though, seemed to be filled in now, just being there with her, watching her. Even if only for a short time, he felt whole again.

**Following our star  
****Has lead to where you are  
****I feel so strong now  
****This can't be wrong now**

Numbuh 5 suddenly shivered, turning onto her back. She groaned, troubled by some fantasies that disturbed her once peaceful sleep, as beads of sweat began to form on her brow.

Nigel frowned. He didn't like when something upset Numbuh 5, even if it was a dream. Removing the red hat from her grip, he brought the blanket up to cover her shivering body. As he placed the hat on the nightstand next to the bed, he failed to notice his sunglasses resting there as well.

When the blanket failed to help the slumbering girl, he thought for a minute, wondering what he could do. If he could, he would stay with her, hoping to comfort her while she slept.

But he couldn't. He wasn't supposed to stay. He needed to leave soon, in fear of waking her. Unlike him, who could sleep through…almost…anything, Numbuh 5 was a very light sleeper. But he didn't want her to be distressed by the visions any longer.

Gently, he stroked the dark girl's cheek, then moved his fingers up to her forehead to move away stray strands of hair from her face.

And suddenly, Numbuh 5 stopped shivering, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

**Nothing I have ever known  
****Has made me feel this way  
****Nothing I have ever seen  
****Has made me wanna stay  
****Here I am, ready for you  
****I'm torn and I, I'm falling  
****I hear my home calling  
****Hey, I never felt something so strong  
****Oh no  
****It's like nothing I've ever known**

He knew he had to leave soon. But he found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Not yet. There was just one more thing…

Leaning down, he softly brushed his lips over her cheek.

**It's like nothing I've ever known**

Quickly, quietly, he ran and jumped out the window, pressing the button on his jet boots to keep him from hitting the pavement. He could feel his cheeks burn with heat. He felt so confused. He wanted to go back, to be there when she awoke and assure her that what had happened wasn't a dream. He wanted to tell her how he felt, about how he always felt about her. But he knew that he couldn't turn back. He could never turn back. He could never tell Numbuh 5…Abby…how he felt.

**Right now I feel  
****Like a leaf on a breeze  
****Who knows where it's blowing?  
****And who knows where I'm going?**

**Transmission Interrupted**

**DanniB** I'm not sure about the whole house thing. I think that house belongs to the Kids Next Door, and that's why the tree house is growing out of it. Like, the reason that they built the tree house there was because they owned the house. I believe Nigel and the others all have houses that their parents own and live in. That's what I was thinking when I wrote this. But that's just me.


	12. Whatever It Takes

**Continuing Transmission**

From the main control room, loud banging noises could be heard from the slightly ajar door leading to it. Inside, the main computer was on, but the screen seemed to be blank.

Sitting at the computer was Numbuh 4, who was repeatedly banging his head on the council.

"Stupid, stupid!" he kept saying to himself, each time banging his head on the dashboard.

He stopped for a minute, closing his tired eyes. He had spent the last twelve hours trying to find out who had sent the false information to them.

Numbuh 4, initially, had been trying to contact the KND IHQ to see if they had information on Numbuh 1 that they could send to create a new packet for him. However, as his curiosity had gotten the better of him, he discovered the information on 'missions' that Numbuh 1 had taken them on. The 5 'missions' that ultimately were all shams.

The small Aussie had then discovered that the said information had been anonymous, and had never been from any sources that the Kids Next Door were familiar with at all.

'Why didn't 'e tell us?' the blond boy asked himself. 'Was it 'cause…'e was afraid of 'ow we would react?'

He sighed, looking up at the screen, pressing a button, and the file reappeared. When he had discovered the anonymous information, he had decided to trace it back to the source. He enjoyed his hacking skills to a point, when he could actually hack into something, and find what he needed.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to uncover the identity of the anonymous information givers. And frankly, he was very frustrated with it.

Plus, he hadn't contacted the KND IHQ.

Besides, how was he going to get Nigel to come back, anyway? He couldn't force him to come back, since it was his own decision to leave. What was he going to do?

He began banging his head on the console again. "Stupid! Stupid! Neva make a promise that ya don't know 'ow ta keep! 'specially when you're tryin' ta impress tha person ya like!"

"The person you like, huh?" a voice said suddenly, startling the Aussie boy. "Well, that sounds serious, doesn't it?"

Numbuh 4's head snapped up to look at the computer screen, and his eyes bugged out as they rested on the older operative. "Numbuh 274! How'd you…?"

"When you were banging your head on the panel, you pressed the button allowing me to contact you."

"Oh."

The older boy smirked. "So, exactly who _were _you talking about, Numbuh 4?"

He blushed, looking away. "N-no one! Ah wasn't talkin' 'bout no one!"

Numbuh 274 raised a questioning eyebrow, then smirked again. "It's Numbuh 3, isn't it?"

"No way!" Numbuh 4 said, looking up at him.

"Ah. I see. She's the one, isn't she?"

"How'd ya know!"

"When I was over there in your sector, even though it was only a short amount of time, I could tell that you liked her a lot. I must admit, though, I think you and Numbuh 3 are kinda cute together."

"Are ya gonna make funa me 'bout it!"

"It's what I do."

Numbuh 4 sighed. He didn't have time for this. "Is there a point ta why ya called?"

The older operative face suddenly became serious. "That's right. I need to talk to Numbuh 1. Is he in?"

Numbuh 4's face faltered. "Uh…N-Numbuh 1? Um…'e's not 'ere right now."

"Well, I need to talk to him. This is really important."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Numbuh 1's information has been totally erased from the KND IHQ computer's files."

"What!"

Numbuh 274 nodded. "I was sorting through our files, because we've had some new members, but it showed that Numbuh 1's information was missing. When I went to check it out, I found that the computer was hacked into."

Numbuh 4 stared up at the older operative, his mouth open slightly in surprise. He knew Numbuh 1, though not as good a hacker as he was, was capable of doing something like that. Could…could he have…

"'e was really serious…" the Aussie whispered.

"Who was really serious about what?"

Numbuh 4 looked up at the screen. "Numbuh 1…quit…"

"He what!"

"'e quit. 'e tore up 'is information packet 'ere and left."

Numbuh 274 relaxed in his chair. "Well, that's not good. This doesn't have anything to do with you all saying that he was a bad leader, does it?"

"Y'know 'bout that?"

The older boy nodded. "He told me about it one day, when I was going to ask him a question."

Numbuh 4 looked down at the control panel.

Numbuh 274 scratched his head. "But I don't know what we're going to do. I mean, without his information logged into the IHQ files, he can no longer be a Kids Next Door operative."

The Aussie looked up. "Isn't there somethin' we can do! Can't we…replace it, or somethin'!"

"The only way would be to re-gather his information."

"Well, can't ya!"

"He'd have to fill out another information sheet. And that's only if he wants one. We can't exactly get anything from him if he doesn't want to fill it out."

"Doncha have an extra file on him or somethin'! Ah mean, c'mon!"

Numbuh 274 started to shake his head, but stopped. "Wait…maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"I think we might have some extra files somewhere…Yeah, I remember! We kept extra files on every operative just in case. If I were to retype those up, Numbuh 1 could probably remain a Kids Next Door operative."

Numbuh 4 stood suddenly, the chair wheeling away from him. "That's perfect! Could ya send that stuff here too? We'll need it."

"Sure, I guess I could. But…why?"

"So 'e can come back, that's why!"

"But what's the point? I thought he quit."

"Yeah, but 'e only quit 'cause of what _Ah_ said, and 'cause we thought 'e was a bad leada. That's why Ah'm gonna bring him back!"

Numbuh 274 smiled, nodding. "All right. Let me go see if I can find that packet. Can you wait there?"

Numbuh 4 seemed a bit confused. "Why?"

"Well, the information packet is supposed to contain all the information of an operative before and during their time in the Kids Next Door. If I'm going to retype this information, I should add in what he did. So I'll need you to tell me."

"Fine. As long as ya can get that info 'ere. Ah'm sure Numbuh 1 didn't wanna leave as much as we wanted 'im ta go. Who knows what he's doin' now?"

"Good point. Stay here, and I'll get the file." And suddenly, the screen went blank.

Pulling the chair back, he sat and leaned back into it. 'We neva wanted ya ta leave, Numbuh 1,' he thought to himself. 'That was mah fault. But Ah promise ya, we'll get ya back.'

**Transmission Interrupted**


	13. Online Meetings

**Continuing Transmission**

There was a loud slam from downstairs, jarring Nigel out of his sleep in front of the computer monitor. Lifting his head, he groggily rubbed his eyes, looking at the screen, which was still switched on, he gazed at what was on the desktop. An error page.

'Since I deleted my file off the Kids Next Door data base program,' he thought with a yawn, 'I can no longer log into the IHQ files.'

He yawned again, stretching his limbs. 'It might be for the best anyway.'

There was a kind of disturbance downstairs, and Nigel almost got up to investigate. But he stopped, sitting back down. 'It must be my mother's boyfriend, Tom, again,' he concluded with a sigh. 'I don't see why Mom wants him to come and 'take care' of me. Doesn't she know that I can take care of myself? She even gave him a key to our house. I know he's not _entirely_ bad, but still…he does have his moments…'

When he was around six, Nigel's father died, and a year later, his mother met Tom in a nearby park, where she was dropping him off to play with his friends. She had been dating him ever since.

But she could never marry him.

Not that Tom minded. He said he was okay with him that they were just going out. And Nigel could tell that he meant it, too. Tom was pretty nice a lot of the time. Sometimes, he reminded Nigel of what little he remembered of his father. But there was one big difference.

Nigel could never remember anytime his father had been mean to him, or yelled at him. His father was a nice and caring man. But Tom…he tended to have a mean streak once in a while. He didn't like being ignored, and if he was, he made sure that he would get noticed.

It was actually because of Tom that Nigel joined the Kids Next Door. Surprisingly, he taught him to stand up for what he believed in, but he also showed Nigel how controlling and harsh adults could be.

Being part of the Kids Next Door was also a convenient escape from Tom. He spent all of his time there, and hardly ever returned home. His mother, thank goodness, was very supportive of him doing this, and allowed him to spend his time there, even if she worried a bit sometimes. But he knew that she only worried for his safety, and for that, even _he_ had to be grateful.

'But now that I'm back,' he thought, 'and no longer part of the Kids Next Door, I suppose I'll just have to put up with Tom. Hopefully, he's in a _good_ mood today.'

There was a sudden ding from his computer, and Nigel looked to see a message confirmation. Someone wanted to 'chat' with him.

'Hm…TDC05?' he wondered. 'Who's that?' Curiosity getting the better of him, he clicked 'Ok'.

The chat window popped up. _Hi_, TDC05 typed up.

_Hello_, he responded. He noted that his screen-name was still 'Numbuh 1'. For emergency purposes, such as a team member leaving on family affairs, they used chatting screen-names to keep in contact with each other. For simplicity, the Kids Next Door operatives used their own numbers, and all would know who's who.

_You're Nigel, aren't you?_ TDC05 asked.

_How do you know me?_

_I know a lot about you, Nigel. In fact, I've known you for a long time now._

_You have?_ Nigel was slightly confused. _Who are you?_

_Do you really want to find out?_

He couldn't understand why this 'TDC05' wouldn't tell him who he/she was. Could…could it be one of the Kids Next Door? 'But why wouldn't they use their other screen-name?' he wondered. 'Could it be a secret one?'

_Yes, I would._

_Then how about you and I meet?_

_Meet? As 'in person'?_

_Unless you have some other ways of meeting, yes. We should meet in person. What do you say?_

_I don't know…_He wanted to find who this person was. But…he knew the dangers of meeting someone you only knew online. He didn't even _know_ this person. He had just met him/her today. _Where do you live?_

_The same town you do._

_Really?_

_Yes._

_Why don't you just tell me who you are?_

_You'll have to meet me and see. Besides, I have something important with you that we have to talk about._

_Something important? Like what?_

_I would prefer to talk to you in person about it._

_I'm not sure if that's such a good idea…_

Suddenly, Nigel heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Nigel!" a booming voice called out, reaching his opened door.

"Uh oh…Tom is _not_ in a good mood…" _All right, sure_, he typed quickly. _Let's meet up._

_Great. When?_

"_Nigel!_"

_Now._

_Now?_

_Yeah. In the park. As soon as possible._

He heard the footsteps getting closer. Nigel looked to the door, nervous, waiting for a reply.

_Okay,_ TDC05 finally said. _I'll meet you in the park in 15 min., okay?_

_Yeah, great, fine, gotta go._ Quickly, he shut off his computer, just in time. Right then, Tom was standing in his doorway. His lean figure leaned against the frame, his jeans and white shirt hiding the muscle that lay underneath. His black hair was gelled back, and his brown eyes started hard at him.

"There you are, Nigel," Tom said, sounding slightly angry.

The boy stood up quickly, slightly surprised, looking at him. "Um…I…I was…"

"You were ignoring me…"

"No! No, I was…um…"

"So what were you doing, then?" he asked, crossing the distance between them.

Slowly, matching Tom's speed, Nigel backed away. "I was just…"

Reaching out, Tom attempted to grab the boy, but he pulled away from him, which only seemed to anger him further. He lunged for the boy, but Nigel jumped out of the way, and he hit the ground.

Landing on his bed, Nigel watched as Tom picked himself off the floor, glaring at the boy. He swallowed, and jumped again to avoid the hands of this adult.

When Nigel landed near the window, he suddenly got an idea. Opening it, he started to climb up, when he felt Tom grab his foot.

Tom chuckled, trying to drag the boy away from the window, but unknowingly, pressed a button hidden by the material of his boots.

The engines in the boots suddenly kicked in, and their force catapulted Nigel out the window, and at the same time throwing Tom against the wall of the room.

Once outside, Nigel breathed out a small sigh. 'Now I have to deal with that mysterious person at the park,' he thought to himself. 'I still have no idea who it is.'

Looking back through the window of his room, however, he decided, 'I'll give Tom a chance to cool down while I'm gone, and meet whoever that person is. Besides, anyone is better than _him_ when he's in a bad mood.'

If only he knew how wrong he would be…

**Transmission Interrupted**


	14. Missing Him

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 5 felt the gentle wind blowing against her skin as she stood on the roof of the tree house. She sighed. She was supposed to be working. But as she had suspected, being a leader wasn't the easiest thing in the world.

She readjusted Numbuh 1's sunglasses resting on the bill of her cap. She drew some comfort, for some reason, when she had the shades in her possession. But it was only a little.

Numbuh 1 had said that she was levelheaded enough to be the leader. She had heard that often from him and the others. They always told her that she could usually keep a calm head in times of crisis, even in the rare situations that Numbuh 1 didn't. Asides from Numbuh 1, the others had said that she was very skilled at formulating a plan and keeping her common sense.

One time, Numbuh 1 had asked her to be the leader of their sector. She had declined it. He had insisted that she was capable to do the job, but she had said that she didn't want to. When he had asked her why, she had responded with the sole answer that he was picked by KND IHQ to be their leader.

But that wasn't the only reason.

She could keep her head when things were going wrong. Sometimes she even had to keep Numbuh 1 in line when he wasn't doing something right. But she knew, if _she_ was the leader, she would act the very same way as Numbuh 1.

She knew that Numbuh 1 was a better leader than she was, because he could handle the pressures and responsibilities of being one. She was calm, cool, and laid-back, but that's because she didn't have as much to deal with when Numbuh 1 was the leader. Now, though…she was surprised that he hadn't cracked sooner with all the pressure.

But there was more to him than that. There was another reason that Numbuh 1 was a greater leader than she was. He was smarter.

Sure, she had the same _knowledge_ that he did. She knew everything about the Kids Next Door protocols, rules and regulations, equipment, and all those things. But she lacked the _wisdom_ that he had. He had much more insight about things than she did, than _any_ other operative.

Especially since he was turned into an adult once by the Delightful Children From Down the Lane. Unlike any other operative, Numbuh 1 knew firsthand what it was like to be an adult. He had been one for two long weeks.

Though she had to admit, some time after Numbuh 1 had been reverted back to normal, he hadn't been the same. Because he had lived as an adult for two weeks, he seemed to sympathize for them. He had confided in her that he almost felt sorry for adults, and that he had no idea how hard it was to be one.

Later though, Numbuh 1 took that knowledge to his advantage, regaining his old custom of fighting adults back. Since he _had_ been an adult for a while, he knew what and how they thought, as well as certain strengths and weaknesses that they had. Such information proved to be very useful to KND IHQ.

The radio by her began to play a soft, melancholy tune, as she leaned against the railing and looked down below her. 'Things jus ain't da same without him,' she thought.

'No! I can't keep thinkin' back to him. I need tuh move on!'

But she knew that she couldn't. It was too hard.

She wrapped her arms around her suddenly, a shiver creeping down her spine. She was cold again. Ever since Numbuh 1 left she had the chills. It was very strange, really. It wasn't cold enough _outside_ to make a person shiver.

Yet, inside her soul and heart, it seemed that the snow come down a few seasons early.

**Where did summer go?  
****How'd I miss the change in season?  
****All at once, the wind blows rough  
****It's cold enough to snow**

Laughter reached the dark girl's ears, as she saw two of the neighborhood kids walking by. The girl leaned over to the boy, whispering in his ear, and they both laughed at their secret.

The Quiet One's hands clenched lightly into a fist. What were they laughing about? They had no right. Numbuh 1, someone who would have done anything to make sure that kids – like those two on the street – were safe from the vindictive decree of adults, had left. Didn't they _care_ that he was gone?

She then remembered that they didn't know about Numbuh 1, and all that they had done for kids everywhere. They didn't know what he had done for his team…for _her_…

**In the street below, people laugh  
****They got no reason  
****Don't they know?  
****It's cold enough to snow**

'Numbuh 1,' she thought, 'why'd ya hafta leave us? Don't you know how much we need you? _You're_ the rightful leaduh of this team, not me. It's not my place. _You're _the one dat holds us all togethuh. We need you…_I_ need you…'

**When we were together  
****And you were staying  
****Funny, but the weather  
****Still felt like May in mid-December**

'Numbuh 4 was right. I shoulda said somethin' to him. But I didn't. And now he's gone. There's nothin' I can do 'bout it now.'

**Now the chill winds blow  
****Sunny skies are only teasing  
****You won't show  
****It's cold enough to snow**

She gasped suddenly, straightening up as her eyes settled on a familiar figure down below.

Numbuh 1 stood on the curb across from the tree house.

She wanted to call out to him, at least say hi, and maybe ask him to come back. How she wanted him by her side again.

But her voice was caught in her throat, preventing anything from coming out.

Numbuh 5 noticed then that his gaze seemed to be fixed on the tree house. She wasn't sure if he could see her or not. But that seemed to be the least of her worries. Even from the distance of the height, the Quiet One could clearly make out the saddened expression on his face, as he looked on at the place he belonged to, the place that rejected him just a week ago.

She could feel her heart wrench inside her as she saw him finally pull his stare away from there. She could just make out the pained look just before he completely turned away, as he stuck his hands into his short pockets, walking away to wherever he was going.

Tears stung at her eyes as she watched him walk away. With a tight grip on the railway, she turned her head away, not able to take anymore. It was too overwhelming.

The song on the radio faded away, as did the wind around her.

"Good day, everyone!" the DJ yelled, startling Numbuh 5 into a small jump. "Thanks for listening! What a great day it is today, isn't it folks? The sun is shining, it's a perfect day out there! If…"

She turned the knob, switching the radio off. "I don't need no weathuh report," she said coldly. "It's _wrong_, anyway. Even if da sun _is_ shinin', this day is _far_ from perfect."

**On the radio, there's a man says,  
****"It ain't freezing."  
****What's he know?  
****He didn't watch you go**

She didn't stop the tears from falling. She couldn't bring herself to do so. She just wished that things could go back to the way they were.

But she knew that, unfortunately, things would never be the same.

**Now the sun can't shine  
****If it wants to, fine  
****But it's cold enough to snow**

**Transmission Interrupted**


	15. The Bait

**Continuing Transmission**

A soft breeze tickled the treetops, whispering to the birds as they sang their songs out to others. The sun shone through the canopy of trees, covering the earth with a warm blanket of light.

Nigel sat on one of the park benches, waiting for whoever was to show up and meet him. He still didn't understand who it was, why they wanted to talk to him, or what the person wanted to talk about, but it was something to do, and a way to get him away from the house.

Though he highly doubted it, he couldn't help but hope that it was one of the Kids Next Door. Didn't matter who. He just wanted to see at least one of them again.

He missed them a lot. He often wondered if they missed _him_ too. 'Probably not,' he decided.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder what they were doing now. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine them at the tree house.

Numbuh 2 was probably building or trying to create something in his room. The British boy chuckled slightly. 'Or sleeping,' he added. Sleeping in his aircraft high above the floor. Either one was a possibility for Numbuh 2.

Numbuh 3 was probably in her room, playing tea party with her stuffed animals, most of which were rainbow monkeys. She'd be sitting around a table with them, pretending they were real, and talking to them, pouring pretend tea into plastic cups.

Numbuh 4 was also probably in his room, fighting some practice robot in his wrestling ring. The robot, of course, would be loosing, and Numbuh 4 would be getting annoyed that his mechanical opponent wasn't much of a challenge.

Then there was Numbuh 5…

Nigel opened his eyes then, as his thoughts drifted to the quiet operative. Even though the other three were the 'unpredictable' ones of the group, it was always Numbuh 5 who stumped him as to what she was thinking or doing. He could always take a guess with Numbuh 2, 3, or 4, and they _would_ be thinking either exactly, or close enough to what he had predicted. But Numbuh 5 was a different story entirely.

Maybe that's what he liked about her. Maybe it was the fact that she could always keep him guessing. He wasn't sure.

Yet he knew, out of all his friends back at the tree house, it was Numbuh 5 that he missed the most. The way he was able to connect with her was unlike anything he had with the others. He felt happy whenever he was around her.

It was slightly disheartening when she hadn't said anything when he had asked if they agreed with Numbuh 4. He would have thought…he was hoping she would have…

But she had asked him to stay. She had said that they needed him. Did that mean anything?

Maybe………

"Greetings, Nigel." The boy was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the five voices melded into one tone. The expression of which was flat, with no emotion at all. The five voices that made his skin crawl.

Looking up, his eyes confirmed what his ears had heard.

The Delightful Children From Down the Lane.

He stood from his seat on the park bench. "What are _you _doing here?" he asked, not bothering to hide the hostile tone in his accented voice.

They smirked, approaching him slowly. "We were scheduled to meet here _today_, weren't we?" they asked. "After all, you asked us to meet here now, didn't you?"

For a moment, he seemed to lose his cool air, as confusion swept over his face and mind. "You? _You_ were the ones who wanted to meet me?"

"Of course, Nigel. Who did you think it was?"

'_TDC_,' he thought, understanding it then. 'The Delightful Children! But the number…05…that's because there's five of them! Of course! Why didn't I see it before!'

But he knew there was no time to berate himself for it. Clearing his throat, he regained his composure. "Well," he said, "what exactly do you want from _me_?"

"I just wanted to express my sympathy."

He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Sympathy? For me?"

"Of course. It isn't easy when your 'friends' make it clear that they don't want you around."

The statement sent a rip through his heart, but he did his best to ignore it. "What do you know?" he asked.

"I know everything, Nigel. I know what you so-called 'friends' were saying about you, and that you left the Kids Next Door."

He scoffed disgustedly. "I should have known you would be spying on us." 'But how?' he wondered. But the pain in his heart was getting harder to ignore.

"Do you know what I think you should do, Nigel?"

"Would I care?"

"I think you should get back at them."

He froze. "Get back at the Kids Next Door!"

The Delightful Children nodded. "They deserve it, too. After what they did to you. They humiliated you, ridiculed you, talked about you when they thought you couldn't hear them, and forced you to leave.

"If you'd like, we could help you get even with them."

Nigel's eyes narrowed. "Never!" he replied. "Even if I'm not part of the Kids Next Door, I would never turn on them like that!"

"But…"

"Listen," he interrupted angrily, "while I admit, they humiliated, ridiculed, and talked about me behind my back, my leaving was _my _decision alone, not theirs. They didn't _force_ me to do anything. As for you 'helping' me, forget it! You think that just because I left, you can persuade me to turn against them.

"The only reason you're _pretending_ to sympathize for me and asking me to join you is because you're hoping that with me helping you, you'll finally get rid of them for good! But did you honestly think that you could get me to go against them like that? You're even dumber than I thought."

The Delightful Children frowned. Nigel Uno was much more headstrong than they realized. He was too firm into his beliefs and his former team that he wasn't being persuaded by the feelings that were locked inside him. They knew that he was slightly angry at the other Kids Next Door for treating him the way they did, but he wasn't letting that resentment get the better of him.

They would have to try something else.

"Well," Nigel said, turning to walk away, "if you're done wasting my time…"

"You have me all wrong, Nigel," they said, their monotonous voices interrupting him. "We weren't thinking that at all."

"Yeah right."

"The truth is, we could easily defeat your team now that _you're_ not there to lead them."

He stopped in his tracks, turning to face them. "They aren't easy to beat."

The Delightful Children smirked. "They are when you aren't leading them, Nigel. Do you realize what a dangerous position you left them in?"

"What do you mean?" His curiosity was getting the better of him.

Behind the back of the boy with a football helmet, he held a remote with a single red button on it. He pressed it.

"You mean they haven't told you?"

"Haven't told me what?"

"What happens when you aren't there to lead them. In the very few cases that you weren't around, they were often faced with difficult challenges, and without _you _there to guide them, they had such a difficulty overcoming them."

He never heard about _that_ happening before. "But they still overcame those challenges."

"With much difficulty, as I have said. And when they did, it was just barely. But now that you left them for good, what's going to happen to them? Without you as their leader, they can easily be defeated.

"Face it Nigel. Once you left your position as their leader, you left them vulnerable from an attack of any sort. You placed them in a great danger."

'Did I really?' he wondered. 'Is that what Numbuh 5 meant when she said that they needed me? What have I done?'

So consumed in his guilt, he didn't hear or notice the giant robot looming up behind him.

Suddenly, looking down, Nigel noticed the large patch of shadow covering him. He swiftly turned around, just in time to see the robot raise its arm and swing it at him.

He felt a tremendous pain fill his body, as the force of the blow caused him to fly back until he hit a tree. He then fell to the ground, unconscious.

The Delightful Children smiled their evil little smiles as their robot picked up the former leader. "Phase one is complete," they said. "Now, it's time to start phase two…"

**Transmission Interrupted**


	16. An Unpleasant Surprise

**Continuing Transmission**

"Numbuh 1, why were ya readin' somethang like this?" she asked the empty room, looking at the explanation on the back of the book. It described the contents of the book, which explained how to be a better leader.

Funny thing was, she found many of those kind of books in the trash.

'I 'membuh this,' she told herself. 'When I came in here one time, and I thought he was doin' homework. He was actually tryin' to read up on how to be a bettuh leaduh.'

She shook her head again. "What for, Numbuh 1? You were a _great_ leaduh. You didn't need no _book_ ta tell ya that."

'Then again, we _did_ give him da impression that he wasn't. I guess dat was _our _fault.'

She sighed, looking around the room that used to belong to Numbuh 1. Since he was no longer part of their team, and she was the new leader, she was _supposed_ to be clearing out his room.

But she couldn't bring herself to. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of anything in that room. She was holding onto the hope that he would change his mind, and come back. That he would return and be their leader again.

It was a foolish hope, though. She knew that. Since he had torn up the information packet and all……Besides, once Numbuh 1's mind was made up, it was hard to change it.

But she still held onto that hope.

She could feel the sunglasses slipping from her cap. Sliding down the bill, they gently landed on the bed.

The dark girl reached out to pick them up, but her hand stopped in midair, as she looked at the dark shades. The oval-shaped frames glimmered, even in the slightly darkened room. But there was something about the sunglasses……

She shook her head, picking the shades by one of the earpieces. As she did, though, she felt a funny bump on the top. The Quiet One ran her thumb over it, making sure that what she actually felt was there.

And indeed it was.

She slipped the sunglasses on. The bump couldn't be felt when they were one the face of any individual. And, as she took it off, she noticed it was hardly noticeable then, either.

But the fact remained: it was there.

She wondered what it was. It was strange really. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to bother her.

She placed it on the bill of her cap again. She tried not to think of it. 'Maybe it was _made_ that way. Maybe it was a mistake, or somethin'. I dunno.'

But no matter how much she told herself that, she couldn't get herself to believe it.

She reached up slowly, going to hold the sunglasses again…

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, as one of the walls of that room was broken through. The quiet operative looked up, just in time as the force of the blast threw her body against the wall behind her. She hit hard, then slid to the ground.

Rubbing her head, she looked up, and dodged just as the bed hit the area she had just been in.

"That was a bit _too _close," she said silently, waving her hand to get rid of the dust that had begun to rise.

She heard the door open, suddenly, and looked to see her fellow teammates running in. Numbuh 3 was the first there, standing next to her.

"Are you okay, Numbuh 5?" the Asian girl asked, her eyes filled with concern.

Adjusting her red cap, she replied, "Yeah. Numbuh 5's okay."

Numbuh 2 and 4 were soon standing nearby as well. "What happened?" Numbuh 2 asked the dark girl.

She shrugged. "Dunno."

Numbuh 4 looked over at the broken wall, his eyes narrowing underneath his blond bangs. "There's tha problem," he said, point in the direction.

As the cloud of dust settled, the others were able to make out a large, light blue robot, standing in the hole it created in the wall. It was a very simple robot, a round, semi-circled head, arms, legs, and a large, squared body. It didn't look like it could hurt much.

In fact, it wasn't even moving anymore.

The Kids Next Door agents looked at each other, then at the robot, waiting for it to do……something……

But even after what seemed like forever, it did nothing.

Numbuh 2, curious more than anything, approached it first. Looking up at the tall robot, he knocked on its metal leg. It made a loud 'clang-clang' that seemed to resonate throughout the entire robot.

Suddenly, the robot seemed to lean forward, and Numbuh 2 squeaked before running back to join where his team was standing. The robot landed on its square body, shaking the entire tree house, as the legs and arms seemed to fold back behind it. The semi-circled head turned a half turn, until the face was no longer visible. There was a slight whirling sound, and an antenna seemed to obtrude from the head.

The Kids jumped slightly when the square body of the robot seemed to turn on, and there was a loud crackling sound as static filled front view of the robot cube.

"It's a monitor," Numbuh 2 said, confirming all their thoughts.

Suddenly, the static ceased, and the faces of five emotionless children appeared on the screen.

"Greetings, Kids Next Door," all five said simultaneously, monotonously.

Numbuh 4 scowled. "It's tha Delightful _Dorks_ From Down tha Lane…"

The Delightful Children said nothing at this comment. Instead, they seemed to smirk slightly.

"Whaddya want?" Numbuh 5 asked bitterly, folding her arms across her chest.

"I merely wanted to show you _Brats_ Next Door something I think you'll find interesting."

"Ah don't have time for this!" Numbuh 4 cried, throwing his arms in the air. Turning to Numbuh 2, he said, "Help me find an off switch to that thin'!"

"Hold on, Wallace," the Delightful Children said, taking a few steps to the side, "you haven't seen what I wanted to show you yet."

The Kids gasped, as the Delightful Children moved enough for them to see what, or rather _who,_ was behind them.

Numbuh 5 was the first to voice what was on her teammates' minds. "Numbuh 1!"

**Transmission Interrupted**


	17. Plots And Plans

**Continuing Transmission**

Nigel, hanging unconscious behind the Delightful Children, was wrapped with a heavy chain, so only his head and feet were visible.

"I see you remember your _former_ leader," the Delightful Children said.

Numbuh 4 growled. "What're ya plannin' ta do with 'im!" he yelled.

"Why is that any concern of yours? After all, he's no longer part of your team."

The Kids stiffened slightly. "W-What are you talkin' 'bout?" Numbuh 5 asked.

"Don't bother to deny it, Abigail. We know_ all_ about it."

The young agents looked at each other, before reverting their gazes back to the screen. "How?" Numbuh 2 questioned.

"That is _our_ secret. But let's just say, we know _everything_ that has happened for the past few weeks.

"We know when, how, and why the Kids Next Door finally broke apart."

The small Tough Kid clenched his hands into tight fists. "Shut up! Just SHUT UP!"

The Delightful Children just smirked. "Can't handle the hard truth, Wallace? Nigel left the Kids Next Door because of what he overheard from all of you, because you all thought of him as a 'horrible leader,' because of the five false missions he led you on. Isn't that right? The _anonymous _information."

"Anonymous information?" Numbuh 2 asked. "What are they talking about?"

"Tha five missions that Numbuh 1 made us go on that were fake missions," the Aussie reminded them, "were sent by an anonymous source. Numbuh 1 didn't tell us that because 'e was afraid of 'ow we would react." 'But 'ow do they know?' he wondered.

"But because of such anonymous information, you were all angered at your leader for leading you on such wild goose-chases that he believed that you didn't want him as leader anymore, and he left your team."

The Kids' eyes fell to the ground, the shame welling inside each of them.

"Then again, that is the way we planned it."

The last statement caused them to look back up at the Delightful Children. "What?" they all asked.

"I suppose I should thank you, Kids Next Door. Without you, my plan wouldn't have worked as well as it did."

"What plan!" Numbuh 4 yelled.

"Our plan to break up the Kids Next Door."

"Your what!"

"Anonymous information can come from anyone. That's why it is called _anonymous_ information. You can never tell where the information, even _wrong_ information, will come from."

It was then that Numbuh 4 understood what they were saying. "It was _you_ who sent tha anonymous crap, ya freaks!"

The Delightful Children nodded. "Indeed it was, Wallace. We figured if _we_ couldn't break the Kids Next Door, we might as well let yourselves do it for us.

"We had sent Nigel anonymous information with false facts to make him believe that your intervention was needed. When you all went, of course, you discovered that the 'missions' Nigel was talking about weren't real. Of course, as leader, all the blame was directed to him, and you all knew that. We figured you would become angry at him, but his leaving was something that even _we _never expected.

"However, it _is_ something that we can use to our advantage."

"It was all a sham!" Numbuh 4 shouted frustrated. "It was their _plot_ all along! An' we _fell_ for it!"

Numbuh 5 felt the same anger as Numbuh 4 did. However, that fury changed to concern as she noticed some movement behind the five Children. A soft groan reached her ears, though slightly drowned by the chatter from her co-agents and the Delightful Children. The limp head was raised slightly, as closed eyes slowly opened.

"Numbuh 1!" she couldn't help but cry out.

The noise suddenly ceased as the other Kids' attention reverted to the screen. Even the Delightful Children turned to look at the waking boy behind them.

"Why hello, Nigel," they said when they were sure he was fully awake. "Did you enjoy your 'rest'?"

The young Brit didn't answer them. Instead, he shook his head slightly to clear it.

"Look who has come to join us," the five Children said, indicating to the monitor. "It's your former team."

His eyes went wide as he saw them on the screen, but he soon turned his head away in shame.

The Delightful Children seemed to enjoy his obvious discomfort. "It's a good thing we were able to find out when you had left the Kids Next Door, Nigel, otherwise this wouldn't be as entertaining as it is."

"But how did you know?" Numbuh 2 asked.

"We have our ways. Luckily, a nano-phone is very useful."

"A nano-phone!" Nigel repeated.

"A 'nanny-phone'?" Numbuh 3 asked, obviously confused.

Everyone, Kids and Children alike, sighed. "No, you stupid girl," the five Children said. "A _nano_-phone."

The Kids looked at each other, scratching their heads in slight uncertainty.

"A-a nano-phone…" Nigel stuttered slightly, "is a mini microphone that can be placed anywhere without being detected. It's almost invisible."

Numbuh 5 grabbed the sunglasses off the bill of her red cap. 'It's dat bump…' she thought. '_That's_ da nano-phone!'

"I don't get it!" Numbuh 5 yelled at the five Children. "What're ya plannin' ta do with Numbuh 1!"

The Delightful Children smirked, readjusting the view of the camera so that the Kids saw what appeared to be a large ray gun. "Do you see that over there, Kids Next Door?"

"Yeah," Numbuh 4 said. "What 'bout it?"

The camera was once again readjusted so that they could see the Children. "That is our Delightful Ray, which we will use to make Nigel…one of us…"

Nigel and the Kids gasped. "You're going to what!" The Brit asked.

"That's right. Our Delightful Ray will turn you, Nigel Uno, into a _Delightful_ child."

The Kids looked at each other, a horrified look on each of their faces, then back at the monitor as the Delightful Children began to laugh their monotonous, malevolent chuckle.

"We must depart now, Kids Next Door," the Delightful Children said. "But tomorrow, the Nigel you know will be no more."

And suddenly, the monitor was turned off, before the Kids could get their protests out.

"Those Delightful Children…!" Numbuh 4 growled.

"We gotta do something!" Numbuh 2 said.

"We gotta save Numbuh 1 before it's too late!" Numbuh 3 agreed.

Numbuh 5 nodded. "Kids Next Door," she said, "battle sta-…!"

"Hold up a minute!" Numbuh 4 yelled.

They all looked at him. "What!" Numbuh 5 snapped. "We gottuh go save Numbuh 1!"

"But we don't even know where 'e is! If ya couldn't tell, _that_ didn't look like their mansion!" Numbuh 4 informed them. "Besides, we need some kinda plan!"

"There's no time for that!" She threw her hands down. "If we don't do somethang, then……!"

Numbuh 4 looked at the other two. "We need a plan if we're gonna save Numbuh 1."

"Hello!" The normally Quiet One yelled. "I said, there's no time! Listen, Numbuh 1 left me in charge, and…"

The Aussie turned to her. "Numbuh 1 left ya in charge 'cuz ya usually levelheaded enough ta do tha job! But for some reason, you're not thinkin' things through right now!"

She froze.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with ya, but the _old _Numbuh 5 would think of a plan! _Numbuh 1_ would think of a plan!

"Besides, if we go try and save 'im without a plan, we might put 'im in more danger than before! We gotta think of somethin'!"

The other three looked down at the ground. "So what're we gonna _do_?" Numbuh 3 asked.

Rubbing his chin for a minute, Numbuh 4 then approached the dark girl, stopping in front of her. He held out his hand, and she looked at the sunglasses she held, before placing them in his palm.

"Numbuh 2," the Aussie said, throwing the sunglasses towards him.

The round boy fumbled with them, trying his best not to drop the shades before he could securely hold them. He looked up at Numbuh 4, slightly confused.

"Could ya find that nano-phone or whateva it is and get rid of it? We don't know if tha Delightful Children can still hear us."

"Well, ain't ya bein' a bettuh leaduh then before?" Numbuh 5 asked.

"Only 'cuz it's kinda mah fault that Numbuh 1 is caught by tha Delightful Children in tha first place." He curled his fingers tightly. "So Ah ain't gonna rest until we get 'im back! Numbuh 2…"

"I got it," he replied, and he quickly ran out of the room.

Numbuh 3 looked over at Numbuh 4, wringing her hands. "Numbuh 4…what if we…I mean…what if…?"

"No!" he said, looking at her. "Nothin's gonna happen ta Numbuh 1. We'll save 'im, you'll see."

The Asian girl smiled, hugging the Aussie and drawing some comfort from him.

Numbuh 5 watched them, jealousy filling her eyes. She knew about them. So did Numbuh 2. It was hard for those two to keep it a secret. She was happy for them, but… She folded her arms over her chest, looking away.

Numbuh 4 suddenly pulled away from Numbuh 3, looking at the Quiet One. "What's wrong with ya?"

"Nothin'," she replied.

"Don't lie. What was up with that a few minutes ago? _You're_ the one who's s'pposed ta be makin' these decisions, but you're actin' more like me!"

She said nothing.

"Look, Numbuh 5, Ah know ya wanna get Numbuh 1 back. So do Ah. But…"

"It's not just that," she whispered, more to herself.

But her other operatives heard it anyway. "What?"

"Nothin'…just forget it."

It suddenly clicked in Numbuh 3's mind. "You…you _like_ Numbuh 1…doncha, Numbuh 5?"

Numbuh 4 looked at her. "Is that true!"

Her cheeks suddenly reddened, but she ignored them.

"No wonda ya wanna save 'im so bad…"

"Shut up," she said quietly.

"Don't worry, Numbuh 5," the Asian girl said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We'll get Numbuh 1 back."

"Darn right!" the Aussie said. "And we'll teach those Delightful _Dorks_ a lesson! Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 5, Ah gotta finish something in tha main computa lab, but in 'bout half on hour, meet me there, and we'll try ta track down where tha Delightful Children are keepin' Numbuh 1."

"What're we supposed ta do in da meantime?"

"Look for some bombs…tha strongest ya can find."

"Bombs?" Numbuh 3 asked. "You don't mean……!"

"Yeah," he said, his eyes narrowing under his bangs, "Ah do. We're gonna get rid of tha Delightful Children…for _good_!"

* * *

The monitor was switched off, and the Delightful Children turned to look at their captive, who was struggling in his chains. 

"Don't bother, Nigel," they said. "You'll never be able to slip out of those."

"I thought being an _adult_ was the worst thing in the world," he said. "But…" He shuddered. "A Delightful Child? That's _worse_!"

"What amazes me, Nigel, is that no matter how _smart_ you are, you're still so _clueless_."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really think that I would waste my time trying to turn _you _into one of _us_? You aren't our kind, Nigel. A ray could never make you one of us. Then again, you don't seem to belong _anywhere_, do you?"

The last statement stung the young Brit more than anything he felt before. It hurt more than any blow, punch, kick, or hit could do to him. If he _didn't_ belong with the Kids Next Door, where _did_ he belong?

But there was something still puzzling him. "But…if you're not going to turn me into a Delightful Child, what _is _that thing?"

They looked over their shoulders at the ray gun. "That is the disguise of our new robot that we will use against the Kids Next Door.

"It was a simple plan. First we had to turn you brats against each other, and when the moment was right, we struck. Now, all we have to do is wait for them to come and 'rescue' you."

Nigel looked around. "But this isn't your mansion. You didn't tell them where we are. How are they supposed to find us?"

He was actually glad that they wouldn't know where he was. Whatever the Delightful Children were planning couldn't be accomplished if they didn't know where he was.

But his hopes fell when he saw the five Children smirk. "If we _had _told them where we were, they would have gotten suspicious. And even if they don't know where you are _now, _they'll find us, Nigel. They'll do whatever they can to save you. You don't have to worry about _that_. They'll come, most definitely.

"We told you that you left them in a dangerous position when you left. Once you left, you made _yourself_ vulnerable as well as the Kids Next Door. Of course, since you're no longer a member of the Kids Next Door, we really can't do anything to _you_, as it wouldn't be the _delightful_ thing to do. You _do_, however, make the perfect bait to lure them here, where we can destroy them…permanently…"

"Permanently…?" The realization hit him hard right away. "You…Y-you don't mean…You can't…!"

"Oh, but I do, Nigel. Our plan will spell the expiration of the Kids Next Door, and we will finally be rid of them forever!"

Nigel couldn't believe his ears. 'I always knew they were _weird_,' he thought, '……but they're more than that……they're _mad_!'

Yet he knew they were being serious. 'I……I can't believe them……They're really going to……to _kill_ the Kids Next Door……!'

**Transmission Interrupted**


	18. Find The Truth

**Continuing Transmission**

Nigel struggled within the chains, trying to free himself. He needed to get out and away from there, before the Kids Next Door arrived, before it was too late. He had to warn them somehow, to alert them that they were walking right into a trap.

But the chains were too much. After a while, he stopped struggling. The chains were too thick. Plus, they were slightly uncomfortable against his skin that way.

The gag over his mouth wasn't helping either.

He sighed, closing his eyes. 'I _hate_ this,' he thought. 'I've never enjoyed the feeling of being helpless. But this is only increasing it one hundred-fold.'

The Delightful Children had told him all about their plot. The anonymous information they had sent him, their intent to turn them all against each other. Though they didn't expect him to actually quit the Kids Next Door, they were using him to lure them in and destroy them. Their 'ultimate' robot was going to be used only for a last resort, but they had other plans to "dispose of the Kids Next Door."

'This is all my fault,' he couldn't help but think, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. 'If I had only known……if I hadn't fallen for their plan to begin with……the others wouldn't be in danger. There's no one to blame but myself.'

He knew there was no point in blaming anyone else. He couldn't blame the Kids Next Door or the Delightful Children. Sure, it was the easiest thing to do, but he never took the easy way unless it was the only way. Besides, it wasn't their faults, really.

He _could_ blame the Kids Next Door. By applying the reasoning that 'if they hadn't said what they had, he wouldn't have left, and none of this would be happening,' it would have been very easy to redirect the blame to them. But he knew that they had only said those things because of his own actions. They were just reacting. And he couldn't blame them for reacting the way they did.

He couldn't very well blame the Delightful Children either. Sure, it was _their_ plan that had gotten him into this entire mess to begin with, but that plan didn't have to work. It could have very well blown up in their faces. But because of _his_ decisions, the Delightful Children's plans _had _worked, and everything was falling apart.

No matter which way a person looked at it, all the blame was directed to _him_, and him alone.

But that was all the more reason that the had to escape. Truth be told, he didn't care what happened to _him_. He felt as though he deserved whatever happened to him. But he couldn't let anything bad befall the Kids Next Door. 'They may not be my team anymore, but that doesn't mean I'll let anything happen to them. Not if I can help it!'

Nigel actually hoped that they wouldn't come for him. 'Perhaps the Delightful Children were wrong. Maybe they really _don't_ care about me. And that's fine. That way, they won't endanger themselves. They'd all be safe.'

But they all seemed pretty worried when he had come to. When the Delightful Children had told them their 'plan' to turn him into a Delightful Child, the others seemed pretty worried.

He began to struggle more. 'If anything happens to them………I'll never be able to forgive myself!'

There was a slight creak as Nigel heard the sound of the door open and shut. The abandoned warehouse he currently was in was old and…well…abandoned. He wasn't surprised that things creaked.

But what had caused the creaking? The Delightful Children were hiding……somewhere……'Could…does that mean…?'

"Numbuh 1!" a hushed, Aussie voice called out to him suddenly. The young Brit's attention was suddenly called to a small, blond figure emerging from the shadows.

"Numbuh 1," Numbuh 4 said in a low voice. "Are ya alright?"

He needed to notify the blond of the impending danger. But when he tried, the cloth covering his mouth stifled the warning.

"Don't worry. I'll getcha outta 'ere."

Nigel shook his head. But Numbuh 4 obviously didn't understand his meaning.

"Greetings, Wallabee," the five voices of the Delightful Children said suddenly, seemingly from around the entire area.

Numbuh 4 spun around, obviously expecting to see the Children from behind him. But when they weren't there, he called out, "Where are ya, ya freaks!"

"Oh, you'll see us soon enough, Wallabee. Or…perhaps you won't…"

Only then did Nigel see the robot looming from the shadows. Numbuh 4, perceptibly still trying to find the obnoxious Children, didn't notice it at his left side.

Again, Nigel tried to call out to him. But it only came out as an incoherent mumble.

There was a sudden creak in the floor, and Numbuh 4 finally saw the robot, as it was about to fire.

"Tag," the Delightful Children said, "you're it." And the blast was fired.

But Numbuh 4 jumped up, barely avoiding the beam. He landed away from both the robot and Nigel, pulling out a light blue ray gun of his own.

"Ah dun think so!" he said, aiming at the robot. "Now it's mah turn, and we'll be playin' mah T.A.G.G.!"

**Kids Next Door Weapon  
****T.A.G.G.  
****T**otally **A**wesome **G**un that **G**enerates ice

He fired at the robot, but it dodged, and fired again at the Aussie. Curling up into a ball, Numbuh 4 rolled out of the way. The robot followed the orange Aussie ball.

Nigel began to struggle again. He wasn't sure where the others were, but he needed to help Numbuh 4. Sure, the small blond was tough, but could he really beat that robot alone?

"Numbuh 5 thinks we'll be able to get ya outta that fastuh if ya stop wigglin' around."

He froze when he heard the familiar voice of his former associate.

From behind him, Numbuh 2, 3, and 5 made themselves visible.

'It was their plan,' he realized as the three other members came around to face him. 'Numbuh 4 is distracting the Delightful Children and their robot while 2, 3, and 5 are supposed to help me.'

It was a clever plan……

Too bad the Delightful Children had already counted on that factor.

He tried to move, but Numbuh 3 and 5 held onto the ball of chain that wrapped around him, as Numbuh 2 pulled out his own T.A.G.G. and aimed for the part of the chain that was holding him up. He fired, and a stream of icy air flowed from the nozzle of the T.A.G.G., hitting the chain. The metal links suddenly turned to ice, allowing Numbuh 5 to try to break it.

The links themselves began to crack, since they had become ice already.

That was when the cloth covering Nigel's mouth finally slipped away. "Get out of here!" he said. "It's a trap!"

But it was too late, as the chain shattered. Connected to the other end of the chain that had the Brit suspended in the air was a weight, seemingly as heavy as Nigel. Due to the new imbalance, and the force of the Earth's gravity, the weight fell, and as it landed on the ground, it hit a large button.

The ground beneath the four Kids seemed to levitate, before flinging them against the opposite wall.

Because of the chains, Nigel seemed to bounce off the wall, landing next to Numbuh 2's discarded T.A.G.G.

Numbuh 2, 3, and 5 however, slid down the wall, landing in a recent hole in the ground, where what appeared to be a tank was arising out. They landed inside the container, and the lid seemed to shut after them.

Shaking their heads clear, Numbuh 3 suddenly pointed out, "It's wet in here."

And indeed it was. Looking down, they realized that the tank was beginning to fill in with water.

"Uh oh…" Numbuh 2 said.

"I think we got a problem…" Numbuh 5 stated.

Numbuh 4 turned his head to see the distress of his teammates, just as the laughter of the Delightful Children reached his ears.

"Did you really think that we'd believe that you would come here by yourself, Wallabee?" they asked in a mocking tone. "You're even more foolish than we thought."

Growling, Numbuh 4 turned the knob of the T.A.G.G. to its highest level. He jumped up, firing it. The force of the blast jetted him backwards, freezing the robot at the same time.

He let go and landed right next to where Nigel lay on the ground. "Numbuh 1?" he asked, helping the Brit remove the chains that restricted him.

Even after the chains were gone, Nigel sat on the ground, avoiding the Aussie's gaze. "You shouldn't have come for me," he said quietly.

"Oh, and what were we s'pposed ta do?" Numbuh 4 retorted. "We weren't gonna leave ya 'ere and let ya be turned inta a Delightful Brat!"

"The Delightful Children were never turning me into one of them," Nigel replied. "It was all a hoax. They only said that to lead you and the others here so they could get rid of you once and for all."

"What?"

"It's true. Everything that has been going on for the past month or so has been part of their scheme."

"Oh…"

Nigel clenched his fists tightly, growling softly.

"Numbuh 1…"

"I'm no longer Numbuh 1, nor am I part of the Kids Next Door. Understand that."

"But you're our leada…"

The Brit scoffed. "Some leader I am. What kind of leader would fall for a trap like this! What kind of leader would allow himself to be used against his team for their defeat! A _good_ leader would have been able to avoid all this from the start. A _good_ leader wouldn't be used as bait to lure his team into such a deception. I was never a good leader……I see that now……"

"Okay," Numbuh 4 said, "maybe a _good_ leada mighta been able ta do those things. But we got a _betta_ leada."

And for the first time that day, Nigel raised his eyes up to meet with Numbuh 4's.

"Sure, a _good_ leada does all that stuff. But you're a _great _leada. Ah mean, you're not only our leada. You're our friend. Ya make sure that we're safe, and ya put tha team before yourself. Sure, ya make mistakes sometimes. But ev'ryone does. No one's perfect. But you've done so much good for us, and our team. What Ah said to ya before……it was outta line.

"Truth is, we need ya ta keep tha team togetha. Things just ain't tha same without ya there ta lead us. _You're_ tha reason we do so well. _You're _tha one that keeps us running at 100 pacent, and its _your_ leada skills that helps us ta succeed."

The Aussie held out his hand, and Nigel grasped it, allowing his help to hoist him to his feet.

"So, whaddya say, leada boy?" Numbuh 4 said with a slight smirk.

"But I can't…Without the packet, I…"

"Numbuh 274 and Ah already took care of it."

"You did? How?"

"Ah'll tell ya lata. Right now, we need our leada back."

The Brit smiled, nodding.

From his hoodie pocket, Numbuh 4 pulled out a pair of thick shades. "Put these on," he said. "Ya look kinda stupid without 'em."

Taking the sunglasses from the smaller boy, Numbuh 1 slipped them on, covering his slightly teary eyes.

Suddenly, he looked up behind the Aussie. "Numbuh 4, look out!"

The small boy turned swiftly, firing at the army of robots that had suddenly appeared.

Meanwhile, in the tank, the other three were running out of airspace as the water continued to pour in. There was only enough room for their heads, and that too was slowly disappearing with the increase of water.

"How long can y'all hold ya breath?" Numbuh 5 asked, slightly nervously. Of course, the other two didn't answer her.

That was when Numbuh 1 noticed the transparent tank. "Numbuh 4," he said, "we have to do something to help the others!"

"_You_ hafta do somethin' ta help 'em!" he yelled back, firing at more robots. "Mah hands are a lit'le full!"

Numbuh 1 searched around frantically, wondering what to do, when he spied Numbuh 2's T.A.G.G on the ground. He picked it up, aiming it at the translucent wall. Pulling the trigger, the icy-blue vapor shot from the nozzle, hitting the side and turning it into ice.

Placing the T.A.G.G. down, he picked up the chain that had before been confining him. Swinging it over his head, he let go so that the end of the chain sailed and hit the ice wall.

He growled when he noted that not much damage was done. There was a little crack, but not enough to break it through. 'If it keeps up like _that_,' he thought, 'it would take too long. But what do I do?'

"Hiya!" Numbuh 4 yelled, jumping up and kicking a robot hard. Since it had been turned to ice, it shattered into countless pieces.

Numbuh 1 braced himself, protecting himself from the pieces that flew around him. Looking down, though, he noticed that Numbuh 4 hadn't had froze the robot entirely, and that the robotic arm was still intact.

Picking it up, he attached it to the chain. Then, swinging it that over his head, he threw it as hard as he could towards the tank. This time, when it hit, the small crack grew bigger, causing water to leak out.

Because of the pressure of the water, the crack became bigger, until the whole ice wall broke, the three Kids flowing out along with the water.

Numbuh 1 ran over as they coughed, gasping for the air they needed to refill their lungs.

"Are you all alright?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Numbuh 3 said, slightly shaky.

"I think so," Numbuh 2 agreed.

"I will be," Numbuh 5 replied.

Numbuh 4 suddenly landed next to Numbuh 1 as the other three got to their feet.

"Well done, Kids Next Door," five monotonous voices said suddenly, and the 5 Kids looked to see the Delightful Children standing in front of their 'Delightful Ray.' "You have managed to defeat our robots, and save your 'leader'."

"And now," Numbuh 1 said, stepping forward, "we'll take care of you Delightful Snobs!"

"Tsk, tsk, Nigel. You know you can't do that. Unless you forgot about our 'Ultimate Weapon.'"

A hole in the floor suddenly appeared beneath the 'Delightful Ray', and it seemed to slowly sink down, until it had completely submerged in it. Taking a step backwards, the Delightful Children seemed to fall into the hole as well.

There was a suddenly rumbling sound as the ground beneath the Kids began to shake. A large purple robot suddenly emerged from the ground, the Children in the cockpit.

"How do you like our new toy, Kids Next Door?" they asked.

There was no way for the Kids to reply.

The Children smirked, before looking at the dashboard.

_Power: 40 percent online…_

"Curses!" they said, a little too loudly. "The power is taking longer to charge than we anticipated!" Due to the enormous size of the robot, the creators of it had forewarned that power would take a while to amass. They had turned it on before, to charge some power, but it didn't seem to work.

The Kids had heard what they had said.

"Ha!" Numbuh 4 cried triumphantly. "They don't got enough powa for their 'toy', so they can't attack with it yet! That gives us enough time."

Numbuh 5 nodded. "Since their 'bot ain't online yet, we can get rid of it and get outta here before da bomb explodes."

Numbuh 1 turned to face his team. "Bomb!" he asked. "What bomb!"

_Power: 45 percent online…_

"We planted a bomb earlier," Numbuh 2 said. "We thought, after we'd rescue you, we'd get rid of the Delightful Children for good!"

"For good?" the Brit repeated. "You mean…!"

"Tha's right!" Numbuh 4 said. "We're gonna take 'em outta tha picture!"

"Whee!" Numbuh 3 said, clapping. "No more bad guys!"

"All we need ta do is stall for time," Numbuh 5 said. "We got a lotta time 'fore da bomb goes off, so what we can do is take out dat robot, which'll be easy since it can't work with no powuh, and then we can get outta here 'fore da explosion."

_Power: 50 percent online…_

The dark agent turned to Numbuh 1. "It's your call, boss," she said.

The others seemed to be in position, ready to attack with the five words usually spoken by their leader.

He looked at them through the black shades, then turned to look at the large machine.

After everything that the Delightful Children had done. They had broken their team apart. They wanted to get rid of the Kids Next Door for good. They wanted to do away with them.

Numbuh 1 knew what he had to do.

"Kids Next Door…" he said in his accented voice.

_Power: 55 percent online…_

"…fall back…"

**Transmission Interrupted**


	19. A Tough Choice

**Continuing Transmission**

"What!" Numbuh 1's team all cried. They couldn't believe their ears. Had Numbuh 1 really said what they thought they heard?

"I said 'fall back'," the Leader repeated.

"Ya can't be serious!" Numbuh 4 said.

But they could feel that he was.

"Why!" Numbuh 5 asked.

"We can't do this," Numbuh 1 replied. "And you all know it. It's not right."

"None of what _they_ did was right!" Numbuh 2 argued.

"Yeah!" the Aussie agreed. "Why shouldn't we let 'em 'ave it!"

"You know exactly why, Numbuh 4."

"But they hurt you," Numbuh 3 said. "And they tried to break up our team."

"Yeah," Numbuh 5 said. "Ya can't tell us that you ain't feein' mad at 'em for doin' dat to ya!"

He looked down at the ground. "I _am_ angry at them…But I'm not going to let my anger make me lose my self control."

_Power: 60 percent online…_

"What're ya talkin' about!" the Tough Kid demanded.

Numbuh 1 turned to look at them. "Look at you all! At the way you're acting! You're letting your anger get the better of you, and you want to do things that you know are wrong!"

"But…" the round operative said, "the Delightful Children…!"

"Yes, I know what they did. But that doesn't mean you can kill them!"

"Why not?" Numbuh 5 retorted.

"That's not what we do. We are the Kids Next Door. We're not murderers."

The other Kids looked at him, his last word sinking into their minds. They looked at the ground.

"Now, when I tell you, we're going to make a run for it."

Numbuh 4's head shot up to look at him. "But the Delightful Freaks'll think we're retreatin'!"

"Exactly. And they'll follow us. If we get out of here before the bomb goes off, we should all be able to get out of here unscathed."

"But ya wanna bring _them_ along with us!" Numbuh 5 asked.

"We have to."

"But why?" the Asian girl asked. "This is your chance to get even with them for what they did!"

"If getting even with them means taking their lives, then I'd rather not."

"But…!"

"Look, it may seem like the best thing to do right now, but you all know as well as I do that once we've done it, we'll regret it for the rest of our lives."

"So," Numbuh 4 said, "you wanna save 'em!"

"Not even the Delightful Children deserve to be…_killed_…no matter _what_ they did."

"But this is our chance to defeat them!" Numbuh 5 said. "If we don't do this now, we may nevuh get anothuh chance!"

_Power: 65 percent online…_

"I don't care! Chances like these may come once in a lifetime, but the consequences of them will remain with us forever.

"Besides, say we _do _kill them. What after that? Are we going to kill _everyone_ that gets in our way?"

"No," Numbuh 4 said, "just _them_."

"You say that now, Numbuh 4, but what if the time arises? If you kill once, who's to say you won't do it again?"

The others noticed the look in their leader's eyes, even hiding behind the sunglasses.

_Power: 70 percent online…_

"So what now?" Numbuh 5 asked solemnly.

"As I've said. When I say, we're going to get out of here. Hopefully, the Delightful Children will follow us out, so we'll all make it out unharmed."

They all looked down at the ground.

"Look, I know how hard this is. I want to defeat the Delightful Children as well. But not _this_ way. We can't let our anger take control of our rational thoughts. That's exactly how _adults_ act and behave.

"One day, we _will_ defeat the Delightful Children. I can assure you that. But not like _this_…It shouldn't be this way. It should _never_ be this way."

_Power: 75 percent online…_

"So," Numbuh 1 said, looking at all of them, "are you all with me?"

They all lifted their eyes off the ground. Each had the same question in their minds. To finally defeat their enemies…or to help them get out alive?

Numbuh 5 was the first to speak. "I'm in."

"I guess so," Numbuh 2 said.

"Me too," Numbuh 3 agreed.

"Outta all tha…" Numbuh 4 mumbled, his arms folded across his chest. "Y'know, Numbuh 1, if tha Delightful Children had tha chance, _they_ would do the _exact_ same thing ta _us_!"

Numbuh 1 turned to look at the five Children in the cockpit of the robot. "I know they would," he said quietly. "So do us a favor, and don't turn into one of _them_."

_Power: 80 percent online…_

"How much time do we have until the bomb goes off?" Numbuh 1 asked.

The round boy looked at the watch on his wrist. "7.5 minutes."

"How did you all get here?"

"Our ride is parked on da roof," the dark agent replied.

"There's a buncha stairs that lead down here from the top," the Asian girl added.

"How long do you think it would take to get up to the roof?"

"Depends on how fast yer runnin'," the blond Aussie said.

_Power: 85 percent online…_

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, the Brit finally said, "Okay, so what we'll do is, when the time is right, we'll make a dash for the stairs, up to the roof, and onto the vehicle you all came in. The Delightful Children will most likely follow us, and we'll have to lead them away from here. It'll be risky, since we _are_ waiting for their robot to power up to maximum, and we don't know what it's capable of. But we'll destroy it. The trick is getting them out of here.

"Are we all ready?"

The others nodded their silent agreement.

_Power: 90 percent online…_

Numbuh 1 turned back to look at the robot.

Numbuh 5 stepped up so that she was standing next to him. "Numbuh 1," she said quietly, "are ya sure 'bout this?"

He nodded. "We have to do this. They may be our worst adversary, but even _that_ can be overlooked in a life or death situation."

_Power: 95 percent online…_

"They're gonna think that we're retreatin'…They'll be holdin' it against us for a _long_ time."

"No they won't. They'll forget about a minor detail like this when we beat them in a battle."

"It's not too late. We can still take out their robot."

"Yes, but then they would be stranded here when the bomb goes off. We can't let that happen, can we? Besides, my mind's made up. We have to help them get out of here, even if _they_ don't realize what we're doing."

"Numbuh 1? Are ya sure you're plan is gonna work?"

He looked over at her, then back at the robot, giving a weak chuckle. "I hope so…"

_Power: 100 percent online…Complete_

"Finally," the Delightful Children said.

The robot raised its large metallic arm, aiming at the Kids on the ground. Energy gathered into the blaster.

The five Children smirked, their hands hovering over the button to fire. "Farewell, Kids Next Door." And they fired.

"Kids Next Door!" Numbuh 1 yelled. "Scatter!"

**Transmission Interrupted**


	20. Unexpected Setback

**Continuing Transmission**

The Kids jumped out of the way as the blast hit the ground where they had been moments before. But as they landed, the explosion created a large rumble, throwing them off their feet.

Numbuh 1, getting up to his feet, looked over at the newly established creator in the ground. "What the…!"

"How do you like our new robot, Kids Next Door?" the Children asked, their monotonous voice echoing around the entire room. "We've had this designed _especially_ for you."

"How thoughtful…" Numbuh 1 muttered sarcastically.

Taking aim, the Delightful Children fired what seemed to be like a beam of electricity at the Kids, who all jumped in different directions.

"Numbuh 5 thinks this ain't good…"

'They were serious!' the Leader thought, horrified. 'I mean…I knew they were, but I didn't think……Electricity! How could they…!' He clenched his fists tightly. 'We really _are_ in trouble. We've never had to deal with _electricity_ before.'

"Be careful team!" he called out to the others.

The robot turned towards the young Brit. "You could have stayed out of this, Nigel," they told him. "You could have been safe had you not decided to intervene and return to the Kids Next Door."

He smirked. "And miss all this excitement? I don't think so."

"Suit yourself…" And they fired again directly at him.

He ducked, just as the stream of lightning passed over his head. He could feel the heat of the current above him.

'That was _too_ close.' He growled slightly. 'If I had known about _this_, I never would have risked doing something like this!

'But it's too late for regrets. I can only hope to do the best that I can getting everyone out of here.'

He rolled on the ground, pushing himself to his feet. "Let's go team!" he called, taking off towards the staircase.

They all got to their feet, running after their leader.

"Don't think that you're all getting away from us _that_ easy." The robot aimed its electric blaster at the retreating forms of their opponents.

Numbuh 5, who was behind the others, suddenly skidded to a halt, noticing what the Delightful Children were doing.

She spied a broken piece of ice from Numbuh 4's encounter with the many robots on the ground.

Grabbing it, she threw it as hard as she could towards the robot's arm, just as the electrical energy was fired.

Passing through the block of ice, the electricity was bent, cutting through the air, not in a straight line, but crookedly. The icy chunk shattered, just as the current hit the ceiling above the door leading to the staircase.

Pieces of plaster and concrete began to crumble, beginning to fall from their place, and onto the ground.

Seeing this, Numbuh 1 picked up his pace, as the three behind him did the same.

They jumped through the door leading to the staircase, just as the entire ceiling above it collapsed, blocking the door.

The force of contact the debris had with the ground pushed the Kids onto the floor, each landing hard on their fronts or backs.

On the other side of the barricade, Numbuh 5 could only look on at the blocked door, where her teammates were safely on the other side.

'At least they got away…' she thought.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

The capped girl turned around, looking at the Delightful Children in the robot, gritting her teeth.

"It seems as though you are all by yourself, Abigail. What are you going to do?"

'Buy da othuhs time to get outta here,' she said mentally. 'I know what Numbuh 1 said, but now……I dun think dis plan of his is gonna work…

'I can only hope they can get outta here okay. As for me……well……seems this is turnin' out ta be a suicide mission now……'

* * *

Numbuh 1 was the first one to get back onto his feet. "Everyone okay?" he asked. 

They all mumbled their replies.

Walking over to the blocked door, the leader placed his hand on the debris jamming the opening.

"What now?" Numbuh 4 asked. "Tha doors blocked."

"I'm pretty sure they can get passed it with _that_ robot, Numbuh 4," he replied, readjusting his sunglasses. "We should be heading up to the roof, and wait for them."

'But something doesn't make sense,' he thought. 'They could have hit us. But instead, they hit the ceiling. Why?'

Looking around, Numbuh 3 suddenly said, "Numbuh 1?"

"What?"

"I think we're missing someone…"

He turned to look at the others, his eyes surveying and confirming her statement. Beneath the dark shades, his eyes widened when he realized exactly _who_ was missing.

"Numbuh 5…"

* * *

There was a sudden pain in the back of her head, as she felt herself connect with the wall. But she gritted her teeth, refusing to cry out and give the Delightful Children the satisfaction. 

Sliding to the ground, she suddenly felt it beneath her, as she looked up, dazed, at the Children's robot.

"I suppose we could end this now," they said tediously, as always. "But where's the fun in that. Perhaps we should drag out the pain for as long as possible."

The dark girl's eyes widened as the robot's hand revolved, the nozzle of the blaster retreated into the arm, only to be replaced by a different one.

"It's about time that _we_ have some fun, Abigail…"

* * *

The Leader had a very worried expression on his face. "Now that they have one of us there with them," he contemplated, "they won't follow us out, and they might not get out in time." 

That was one reason why he was worried. But he found that he couldn't voice the _real_ reason he felt anxiety well within him.

"Who cares!" Numbuh 4 yelled. "What 'bout Numbuh 5!"

Numbuh 1's already tight fists clenched tighter, his knuckles paling more than they already were. "Numbuh 5…" he said tightly.

'She probably did something so that the blast avoided _us_,' he decided, 'and hit the ceiling instead. But in doing so, she didn't have time to follow us, and was trapped out there with the Delightful Children!

'This is all _my_ fault! If I hadn't had waited for the Delightful Children's robot maximize to full power, Numbuh 5 wouldn't be in such danger!'

"The T.A.G.G.s!" Numbuh 2 said. "If we could freeze the debris, we could break it down!"

Numbuh 3 was looking around. "But we don't have 'em!" she pointed out.

"Blast!" the Brit said. "We must have forgotten them!"

Suddenly, through cracks between the pieces of debris, a bright light shone through, then faded as soon as it had appeared.

Numbuh 1's head shot towards the barred door as soon as the first light appeared. He felt a knot begin to develop and twist inside of him as more flashes of light shone through rapidly.

'Numbuh 5…Abby…If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself!'

That was when the leader noticed the other door. Looking towards it, he spied the sign above it. _EXIT_.

That was when he remembered that he had seen large doors in the room they had just been in. Two doors, made out of glass, that seemed to lead _outside_.

The idea played in his head until he grasped at it.

"How much time do we have?" he asked.

The mechanic operative looked at his watch. "5 minutes."

"All right, 2, 3, and 4, I want you to head up to the roof, while I go get Numbuh 5."

"'ow?" the Aussie asked.

"The exit." He indicated the door with his thumb. "If I run to the side of the warehouse, to the main doors, I can get back into _that_ room and help Numbuh 5.

"But while I'm doing that, I want you three to get to the ship on the roof, and get it ready for escape."

They nodded.

"Now, listen to this _very _carefully: If Numbuh 5 and I aren't there by the one minute mark, I want you all to leave."

"What!" the Asian girl said.

"Are you crazy!" the round boy asked.

"_No way_!" the Tough Kids yelled. "We ain't gonna leave ya 'ere!"

"That is an order, Numbuh 4. If we aren't back by then, then you'll _have_ to leave, do you understand me? If _we_ don't make it out, then at least _some_ of us will."

'I just hope I'm not too late to help her!'

And with that, he ran, opening the exit door, and disappeared through it.

Looking on after the Leader left, Numbuh 4 turned to the other two. "You two go on to tha ship. Ah'm gonna go afta Numbuh 1."

"But Numbuh 1 told us to go to the ship!" Numbuh 2 protested.

"Yeah!" Numbuh 3 said. "It was an order!"

But the Aussie simply smirked. "Now that Numbuh 1 is back ta givin' ordas, Ah'm back ta disobeyin' 'em.

"You two go on back to tha ship. Numbuh 1 might need some help."

Numbuh 2 nodded, proceeding up the stairs. But Numbuh 3 looked at the blond, hesitating.

He gave her a reassuring smile, before leaning over and brushing his lips gently over hers. "Dun worry," he said softly. "Ah'll be alright."

She nodded, her eyes giving away that she wasn't really convinced, but turned and ran up the stairs.

Numbuh 4 ran out the exit door.

* * *

Numbuh 5 fell to the ground, supporting herself on one knee. Her breathing came out in small pants, as beads of sweat covered her brow. 

A bitter, coppery taste was present on her tongue. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, feeling a warm liquid on the side of her mouth as she did so.

Her body trembled slightly, due to lack of energy and an excess amount of pain racking within her.

"What's wrong, Abigail?" she heard five Children's voices ask. "Are you feeling tired already? Maybe we should do you a favor, and end your pain now."

She heard the whirling noise, as the nozzle on the robot's hand change back to the electrical fire one.

She shut her eyes tightly, glad that the Delightful Children couldn't see her do so because of her cap.

'Is dis how it's gonna end?' the dark operative pondered. 'Is dis da way it's s'pposed ta be? 'Cuz if it is, then dat sucks.'

She chuckled slightly, though a nervous chuckle. 'I hope da othuhs got out okay.'

But the Quiet One couldn't help but feel a bit scared about this. She would never show it, or admit it, but she knew in her mind, she _was_ scared.

'I nevuh even got ta tell Numbuh 1 how I feel…and now, I guess he'll nevuh know…'

"Farewell…Abigail." And with that, the Children pushed the button, firing.

She clenched her eyes tighter shut, gritting her teeth and waiting for the pain to come.

In her fear, Numbuh 5 couldn't stop the thought as it slipped into her mind.

'Nigel……!'

And the room was washed with the blinding luminosity of the electrical rays as they cut through the air.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	21. The Final Blow

**Continuing Transmission**

As the room was filled with a blinding light caused by the electrical currents cutting through the air, they zoomed towards their target with unbelievable accuracy.

When they hit, a pain-filled cry came forth, bouncing off the walls and with resound precision, causing a great echo around the room.

But Numbuh 5 was surprised to learn that she felt no pain, and that the voice of the cry was not her own.

Suddenly, the cries ceased as the light dwindled down, allowing all to see the room around them. Blinking slightly, the dark agent rubbed her eyes to clear her vision.

She gasped when she saw Numbuh 1, shakily standing in front of her, his back turned to her.

"Numbuh 1!" she said.

He didn't respond. Instead, he fell to his hands and knees.

Forgetting about her own fatigue, she hurried over to him, kneeling down next to him.

"Numbuh 1…" she said softly.

His breathing was heavy, his chest heaving as he tried to take in the air he had lost. He trembled, almost violently, as beads of sweat appeared from the pain and the obvious effort to stay conscious. His clothing was smoking and tattered from the voltage that damaged his body.

"N-Numbuh 5…" he said suddenly, his voice racked with pain. "A-are you…alright?"

Her eyes widened with surprise at his question. He could he ask her _that_ when it was he who took the blow of the electricity…for her?

"I'm sorry…" he continued, his voice straining, "that I didn't notice you were missing until later. I should have realized…what happened…before…when you averted the beam away from us…trapped here by yourself."

"I did it so you could get outta here!" she said, more upset than angry. "You shouldn't have come back for me! If you had just left…!"

"Abigail is right, Nigel," the five Children said within their robot hiding place. "If you had just left, without looking back, you wouldn't be hurt now. You're much more imprudent than we thought."

With his arm around Numbuh 5's neck, Numbuh 1 was hoisted onto his feet, leaning on his dark teammate for support. "If you think," the Leader said, his voice stronger than before, "that I would leave a teammate…a _friend_…behind like that, then you don't know me in the least. If that makes me foolish, then fine, I am, but I would _never_ abandon someone when they need me the most."

'Numbuh 1…' Tears were beginning to fill into her eyes as she looked at her best friend.

The Delightful Children smirked. "No matter then. I wanted to get rid of all of you Kids Next Door anyway. This way, I can dispose of two at once."

The robot's arm aimed at the both of them, as another ray of power shot forth.

"Look out!" With all the strength he had left, he pushed Numbuh 5 away from him, just as the current of energy consumed his body.

The Quiet One landed on her back, her eyes widening with fear and horror as she witnessed the site.

"_Nigel_!" she cried loudly.

Again, the firing ceased, and Numbuh 1 fell to the ground, unconscious.

The dark girl quickly crawled over to him, placing her hands on his back, trying to shake him awake. 'He…he can't be…!' Numbuh 5 couldn't…wouldn't…accept the fact that he…'NO!'

"Numbuh 1!" she said, almost hysterically, small beads forming in the corner of her eyes once again. "Numbuh 1, please! Wake up! Wake up, Numbuh 1!"

But there was no response from the comatose boy.

She couldn't stop the tears that began to stream from her eyes. She cried into her arms, her tears dampening her friend's red shirt, singed from the electric blows. Gut-wrenching sobs escaped from her throat.

She didn't care anymore. She didn't care that she didn't seem like the calm, collected Numbuh 5 anymore. She knew she seemed now to be a very afraid-looking 11-year-old, and she was. She was very afraid. She was afraid of what would happen to her friend…not her leader, but her friend, the friend she had known for six years, the greatest six years a kid could ever have. No, she didn't care that she didn't seem like Numbuh 5 anymore. She was just a scared Abby.

"Don't be upset, Abigail," the Delightful Children said, obviously enjoying her grief, though greatly surprised by it. But they ignored the fact, letting the smirks on their faces get the better of them. "You will be joining him soon enough."

Her cries ceased, though some tears still remained in her eyes. She lifted her head up from her arms and Numbuh 1's back, looking at the Delightful Children with unconcerned eyes. Though she noticed that the robot's blaster was charging up again, her eyes revealed that she didn't care.

Just as the electric beams were fired, something seemed to hit the robotic arm, causing it to point upwards.

The beam hit the ceiling, causing it to crumble. The blast went through the ceiling creating an opening, revealing the sky above.

Numbuh 4 landed on the other side of Numbuh 1, facing his dark associate. "You alright, Numbuh 5?" he asked.

She nodded solemnly, her eyes fixed on Numbuh 1's limp body.

Looking at his lifeless leader, Numbuh 4 growled, clenching his fists.

"Nice of you to join us, Wallace," the Children said. "Would you like to end up as Nigel is?"

"You freaks!" he cried, turning to face them. "Ah can't believe you're tryin' ta do this! Even afta what Numbuh 1 was tryin' ta do for ya!"

A slight, dull chuckle was heard. "Nigel has never done anything for us, except to lead you annoying Kids Next Door to be great thorns in our sides."

"Ya don't know anythin'! Ya've been tryin' to get rid of tha one guy that was tryin' ta help ya!"

"What are you talking about, you fool?"

"You're tha fools!" he retorted angrily. "While you dimwits were thinkin' of ways ta get rida _us_, _we_ were thinkin' of ways ta get rida _you_! Before we got 'ere, we set up a bomb. We were plannin' on blowin' ya to bits.

"But Numbuh 1 didn't want to. Even afta all ya did ta 'im, and ta us, he didn't wanna kill ya! When we were runnin' away, he was hopin' ya would follow us, so that _you_ could escape with _us_, and that _you_ would get out safe!

"And _this_ is 'ow ya repay him! By tryin' ta kill 'im! Ah'm sure your precious "Fatha" taught ya betta than ta kill someone who was jus' tryin' ta help ya!"

The Delightful Children were stunned, even if they emotionless expressions didn't give that away. Nigel…was trying to help them? After they had told him their plans to annihilate his friends, after their plot to turn them against each other, he wanted to _help_ them?

It could be a trick. Wallace could be making the whole thing up. The story of the bomb and Nigel trying to help them could be a deception, trying to lead them into compunction in an attempt to get an edge over them.

But as they looked into the young Aussie's eyes, even hidden underneath his blond, messy bangs, they couldn't perceive the idea that he was lying. They knew…Wallace was telling the truth.

There was a large rumble, rattling the worn-down warehouse. Looking at his watch, Numbuh 4 cursed slightly under his breath.

"One minute…" he said. He looked down at the cataleptic figure of Numbuh 1, and Numbuh 5 kneeling beside him. He had to get the both of them out. But how?

"Numbuh 4!" The Tough Kid looked up in the direction of his codename was called, seeing the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W. hovering overhead.

He could see Numbuh 3 standing by the open door on the underside of the ship. She threw down a rope ladder, which reached down to where he and Numbuh 5 were.

He steadied the swaying ladder, turning to his fellow operative.

"Numbuh 5," he said, "we gotta climb up tha ladda if we're gonna get outta 'ere!"

But his words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Numbuh 5!"

Still no answer.

He was beginning to get angry now. "Snap outta it! Numbuh 1 saved ya so that you would be alright! If ya don't climb up the ladda now, he woulda gotten 'urt for nothin'!"

She seemed to snap out of her trance, as she stood up, looking at Numbuh 4.

"Ah'll get 'im. You get up tha ladda."

She nodded once, before taking hold of the ladder, proceeding up.

He watched her go up, but when she was about halfway, the building rumbled again.

"Crud! Numbuh 2," he called, "take 'er up!"

The Aussie was about to go up, when he froze, looking at the unconscious Brit.

As the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W. began to lift, Numbuh 4 planted his feet on one of the steps of the rope ladder, holding onto it with one hand. Just as he passed over, the Aussie grabbed the red shirt of Numbuh 1.

He gripped the ladder tighter, feeling as the gravity tried to pulled down the Brit back to Earth. The weight of the dangling boy added with his own caused the rope ladder to sway, making it harder for him to hold on to both the ladder and his leader.

But letting go of either wasn't going to help any. Whether he let go of the rope ladder or Numbuh 1, he would regret if forever.

As they placed a great distance between them and the warehouse, he looked back to see a robot emerging from the broken depot, flying in the other direction.

"There they go," Numbuh 4 whispered silently to the unconscious Numbuh 1. "Tha Delightful Children are getting away safely, jus' like ya wan'ed 'em ta. Ah hope ya're happy, Leada."

His fingers suddenly slipped from the rope ladder. He let out a yelp as he and Numbuh 1 began to fall.

Numbuh 5 gasped as she witnessed the two of them falling.

The Aussie swiftly reached out, grabbing the last step of the rope ladder in time. Gripping tightly, he let out a soft sigh, before looking down, his legs dangling, as well as Numbuh 1.

There was a loud explosion, and Numbuh 4 looked up to see that the bomb had finally gone off at the storehouse. The force of the detonation whipped by him and Numbuh 5, causing the rope ladder to rock dangerously, and the S.K.C.L.A.W. struggled to maintain stability as it fought against the strength of the bomb's discharge.

Numbuh 4 gritted his teeth, doing his best to hold on to the rope ladder and Numbuh 1. Looking up, he called, "Numbuh 5!"

She looked down at him.

"Ya gotta climb up tha ladda! Ah can't climb up tha ladda while tryin' ta hold onta Numbuh 1, but Ah can't stay this way foreva! Ya gotta climb up tha ladda and help Numbuh 3 pull us in!"

Even though he couldn't see her eyes, he could feel the concern and fear that were held there within.

He shuddered slightly. She always seemed to do that, not only to him, but to everyone. For as long as he has known her, and as long as she wore the red cap, he and the others would be able to sense what emotions she had in her auburn orbs, even if they couldn't see them. It was rather strange, but they always knew how she felt through her eyes, visible or not.

But he could feel what she felt at the moment.

"Dun worry! You go on up tha ladda! Ah ain't gonna drop him! Ah got him."

She nodded, looking up and beginning to ascend to the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W.

He looked back down at the unconscious boy who was dangling beneath him as he did his best to hold on to. "Yeah," he said quietly, "Ah gotcha, Leada. That's tha way it's gonna be from now on…"

**Transmission Interrupted**


	22. Flickering Hope

**Continuing Transmission**

Numbuh 5 sat next to the bed of Numbuh 1, on the edge of her seat, watching him as he slept. He seemed to stand out a great contrast to the white bed and sheets. His hard, labored breathing filled the otherwise small, quiet room.

They were in a hospital, of course. They had taken Numbuh 1 back to the tree house. But when they realized that they couldn't help him, they called his mother, who was one of the few adults they trusted, and asked of her help to admit their leader into the hospital. As concerned as any mother, she agreed.

Next to the dark girl sat Numbuh 3, and across from her, on the other side of Numbuh 1's bed was Numbuh 2, both watching their leader, sitting on the edge of their seats, worried looks set on their features.

Numbuh 4, however, was leaning back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest, at the feet of his commander's bed. He had a look on his face that suggested that he didn't look too happy. Of course, in such a depressing time, none of them were. But his facial expression wasn't like the others' troubled aspects for their fallen friend. He looked slightly angry, though the full extent of his irritation wasn't revealed in his visage.

He didn't blame the others for being worried. Deep inside, he was just as concerned as they were. After all, that was only a natural feeling after what they overheard the doctors tell Mrs. Uno.

* * *

_"I'm not sure what happened to Nigel," the doctor's voice said, "but I'm not sure how to tell you this."_

_Behind the door, the other four Kids listened through the slight opening._

_"Just tell me," they heard Mrs. Uno say, her British accent weighed down with anxiousness. "I need to know."_

_The doctor sighed loudly. "Well, though I'm not sure how, Nigel's body somehow seemed to absorb a large amount of electrical currents. In fact, it was, if not more than, enough to kill any one person. Usually, when enough electricity is absorbed by the human body, the normal functions fail to operate correctly._

_"Luckily, Nigel's vital signs are still detectable. Weak, but detectable nonetheless._

_"We'll do all we can to help him, but I'm not sure how much good we can do. With any luck, his body will react to the treatments, but it's never a guarantee. Though we can only hope for the best, I _do _have to give you the reality of it. The truth is, it'll be a miracle if he survives."

* * *

_

The Aussie could understand how they felt. It worried him too that they could be losing a loyal and dear friend that they cared for. They had all been a group as the Kids Next Door for two years, and a group of friends for even longer. It was rather frightening to think that even just _one_ of them would be leaving sooner than anyone expected. Though there was a tiny sliver of hope, all odds were against it, as the doctor said that, statistically, Numbuh 1 wouldn't make it.

But that only angered him further, and he felt that his fellow Kids were acting in a way they shouldn't be.

He stood up abruptly, tipping over his chair as he did so. It clattered as it landed on the ground, breaking the silent tension that had been drowning and suffocating the tiny hospital room. The sudden noise caused the other three to look at their friend.

"Stop it, just stop it!" he cried, struggling to keep his voice quiet. "We _can't_ keep doin' this!"

"Doing what?" Numbuh 2 asked. The curiosity he held was mirrored in Numbuh 3 and 5's eyes.

"_This_! We gotta stop mopin' around like this!"

The dark agent averted her gaze from him back to the still boy lying on the bed. "But, Numbuh 1 might…" She felt fresh tears well up in her eyes.

"He might…!" The round operative couldn't speak the last word that was on the tip of his tongue. He felt that, the more it was said, the more likely it would become.

"The doctors said that…!" Numbuh 3 began.

"Who cares what tha bloomin' doctas said!" the Tough Kid interrupted. "Look, Ah know what they said, Ah was there. But we can't stop thinkin' that Numbuh 1'll be alright!"

Six pairs of eyes were focused on him.

"Ah don't know much about medical stuff, but Ah _do_ know what Numbuh 1 would do in times like this. _'e_ wouldn't give up, and _'e_ wouldn't stop belivin' that everythin'll be alright!

"No matta 'ow 'ard things got, Numbuh 1 neva stopped thinkin' that things'll turn around, and that we would be able to get through anthin'! Remeba! Just like when we were rebuildin' our Tree House HQ…"

* * *

_After rolling up the new blueprints into a scroll shape, Numbuh 1 handed it to Numbuh 2, turning to face him and Numbuh 3. "You two know what to do," the Leader said._

_Both nodded, and Numbuh 2 turned, military style, and 'marched' away, Numbuh 3 skipping along behind him._

_Numbuh 1 shook his head, a smile on his lips as he watched his teammates' antics._

_"Yo, Numbuh 1!" a familiar Aussie voice said. Turning around, the Brit saw Numbuh 4 slowly sauntering up to him._

_"What can I do for you, Numbuh 4?" _

_"Ah was just thinkin' 'bout somethin'…"_

_"Oh? What of?"_

_"'Bout rebuildin' our HQ."_

_"I see. What about it?"_

_The tough agent kicked a pebble from the ground, his eyes fixated on it, before looking up at the ruins of what used to be their tree house. "Well, just look at this place…"_

_Numbuh 1 surveyed the remains of their beloved HQ. "I know. The Delightful Children really did a job on this place, didn't they?"_

_"Yeah. Makes me kinda wonda…Are we gonna be able ta fix it?"_

_The commander looked at the shorter boy. "What do you mean?"_

_"There's so much ta do 'ere. And as long as we 'ave no tree 'ouse, we're vulnerable to attacks from……well, anybody. Wouldn't it be easia if we jus' get _anotha_ tree 'ouse?"_

_Numbuh 1 shook his head. "I wish it were that simple. But _this _is our tree house. As long as there's a chance to rebuild it, that's what we're going to do."_

_"But look at it, Numbuh 1!"_

_"I'm aware of the damages, Numbuh 4. But if we work hard, and work together, I know that we'll be able to rebuild it, and restore it to the way it was. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to make it _better _than before."_

_Numbuh 4 looked up at the Brit. "'ow can ya stay so darn positive 'bout it? Ah mean, this whole situation is 'opeless!"_

_"Nothing is hopeless, Numbuh 4. Things will be alright if we believe it so."_

_"There ya go again! 'ow can ya be so confident that things'll turn out ok!"_

_The boss turned a bit, his eyes focusing on something ahead of him. "You really want to know?"_

_"Yeah! Ah wanna know!"_

_He pointed his finger straight ahead. "Tell me what you see over there."_

_Looking in the direction the other boy indicated, Numbuh 4 tilted his head quizzically when his sights came upon what he thought Numbuh 1 was trying to show him. "Numbuh 2, 3, and 5."_

_Bending down, Numbuh 1 picked up a section of what seemed to be a metallic substance, holding it out to him. "Now, what do you see here?"_

_Looking at the metal, Numbuh 4 tried to figure out what Numbuh 1 wanted him to see besides the metallic bit. He could only make out his reflection, staring back at him with confusion. He didn't understand what this had to do with anything. "Me?" he finally suggested._

_Numbuh 1 put the piece of metal down. "Exactly," he responded. "The reason that I believe everything will turn out ok for us, is because of you and the others. _

_"You see, a team is only as good as their leader, and they often reflect what their leader is thinking and feeling. I _do_ believe that we can get through this hard time, but that won't help if you all didn't think so. So I often have to voice out and remind them that, together, we'll be able to get through anything. If _I_ don't believe that, then why should any of _you_ believe it?_

_"No matter how hard things get around here, I have to believe that things will be alright, so that you and the others can believe that too. That is the only for us to _do _anything, and _that _is the only way to achieve our goals and make that much of a difference."

* * *

_

"Numbuh 1 always believed that things would be okay for _us_," Numbuh 4 continued, "and now it's our turn to do tha same for _'im_!"

"Still…" Numbuh 5 said. "Numbuh 5 knows you're right, Numbuh 4, but…I still can't help but feel that this is _my_ fault. I mean, if Numbuh 1 hadn't come back for me, he wouldn't be like this anyway."

Numbuh 4 shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, Numbuh 5. It was mine."

She looked over at him.

"If Ah hadn't a' said any of those things that Ah did, Numbuh 1 wouldn't have left in tha first place, and tha Delightful Children wouldn't have captured him. It's mah fault that we fell for their plan at all."

Silence passed over them. Words rolled in the other three Kids' minds, trying to think of a way to tell Numbuh 4 that he was wrong, and that it wasn't his fault.

Pulling her gaze away from the Aussie, the Asian girl looked at Numbuh 1, slumbering, with a somewhat peaceful look on his face, despite his shallow breathing. Reluctantly, a smile played across her lips.

"You know what I think?" she said softly.

The others turned to look at her.

"I think Numbuh 1 would say that it wasn't anyone's fault, and that he wouldn't want either one of you two to blame yourself."

And, as each of her friends thought about it, they realized that she could be, if she wasn't already, correct, and that it was indeed the wisest statement that had been said the entire time.

The door creaked open slowly, and the Kids looked up to see Mrs. Uno slip in, closing the door behind her. She let out a slightly relieved sigh, as she had seemed to be tired of filling out forms. Her auburn bangs fell over her soft golden-brown eyes. Her long hair hung on her shoulders, standing out against her blue shirt. The dark jeans she wore seemed very different than what the Kids were used to her wearing – a business suit – and they did seem slightly surprised by those and the sneakers that covered her feet.

Glancing up, her eyes rested on her son that lay in the bed. Concern and wonder seemed to inhabit her delicate orbs, as she crossed the room and place a small kiss on the forehead of her son.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

The others looked at each other, unsure of what to tell her.

Numbuh 5 finally spoke up. "He was tryin' ta help me, Mrs. Uno," she said. "I was in trouble, and he…he was jus' tryin' ta save me."

Mrs. Uno straightened, a small sigh escaping her lips. "I know Nigel takes a lot of pride in what he does," she said, "with the whole, 'Kids Next Door' thing. I usually don't mind, but I often wonder if it's worth it. I mean, is it worth letting him do this, knowing that he could get seriously hurt like this?"

"He's just doin' what a lot of adults tell us to do anyway," the Quiet One replied, "which is standin' up for what one believes in. It may not be the greatest way, or the safest, but it sure is worth it. He's riskin' himself to help othuhs. He may get hurt, but he knows it's for a good cause, and no one can do wrong there.

"Y'know, you should be proud of your son for what he does, Mrs. Uno. We sure are."

**Transmission Interrupted**


	23. Time of Revelation

**Continuing Transmission**

Looking at her watch, Numbuh 5 began to tap her foot impatiently. They were supposed to be on their way to the hospital to see Numbuh 1.

He still hasn't woken up yet, and it had been over three weeks. The dark girl was beginning to get rather worried of what would happen to her commander, her friend, since he was still in a cataleptic stage. Especially since the doctors didn't know what to make of it either.

It was hopeful. There was a slight chance that he would be alright. After all, he was still hanging in there.

But she brought her mind back to the matter at hand. They were _supposed_ to be on their way to the hospital. However, there was something, or rather _someone_, keeping them back.

"Numbuh 4," she said, rather edgily, "where's Numbuh 3?"

"Like _Ah'm_ s'pposed ta know?" he replied. Shuffling his foot slightly, he stuffed his hands into his pockets before calling out, "Numbuh 3! 'urry up!"

"Man," Numbuh 2 said. "Why does she do this everyday? It's not like we're going everywhere fun. We're just going to the hospital."

"She doesn't do this _ev'ryday_," the Aussie argued.

"Yeah, she does," Numbuh 5 retorted. "An' _you_ know it."

"Hey," the round operative, "if Numbuh 1 is awake, can I tell him about his surprise?"

"Numbuh 2, ya've been askin' 'bout that ev'ryday for da past three weeks."

"Yeah, Numbuh 2. Besides, Numbuh 5'll prob'bly wants ta be tha one ta tell him."

The Quiet One gently punched her comrade on the shoulder, sensing the teasing tone in his voice.

Footsteps were heard, and the others turned to see Numbuh 3 coming up to them.

"Okay, all ready!" she said cheerfully.

"Numbuh 3, what exactly _takes_ you so long?" Numbuh 4 asked. "What're ya doin'?"

"Nothing really," the Asian girl replied.

"So why do ya take so long?"

She pouted slightly, looking down at the ground. "Sorry," she said softly.

Numbuh 2 sniggered slightly, while Numbuh 5 rolled her eyes. They both knew Numbuh 3 wasn't really sorry. She said that everyday to get on Numbuh 4's good side.

And, just as it had every _other_ day, it worked. Beneath his bangs, Numbuh 4's eyes softened, as a forgiving smile appeared on his lips. "Eh, it's okay, Numbuh 3."

She smiled, the cheerful look back on her face, as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips.

Numbuh 2 pretended to look away, covering his eyes. "Geez," he said, a mischievous smile appearing, "do you guys have to do that _all _the time?"

The two blushed slightly.

"'Course they do," Numbuh 5 replied, cutting them off before they got a chance to speak. "It's their job. Aftuh all, they _are_ a couple."

"Numbuh 3 and 4 a couple? My, when did _this_ happen? I wasn't gone _that_ long, was I?"

The sudden voice caused the others to jump slightly, while, in the back of their minds, they noted that the voice sounded familiar.

"But, then again, I suppose I should have expected it," they recognized a British accent to say. "After all, it was rather obvious how much Numbuh 3 and 4 liked each other to begin with."

'That voice……!' Numbuh 5 thought.

They all turned around, slowly, as if afraid to get their hopes up. But as their eyes rested on the site, they couldn't help but suddenly lose their breaths.

Numbuh 1 stood on the window, looking in on them. He seemed slightly tired, but that was hardly noticeable with the smile on his face.

The others could hardly believe their eyes. Was…was Numbuh 1…?…He was really back!

A rush of exhilaration suddenly overcame the other four, as they ran to greet their leader.

As anyone would do when being charged at, Numbuh 1's instincts kicked in, causing him to take a step back, even if he was a bit higher up than they were. However, since he was on the window sill, and there was nothing behind, he slipped.

The Brit yelped as he began to fall. But Numbuh 2 and 4, reaching the window first, grabbed his hands before he could fall out of their grasps.

Looking down, Numbuh 1 gave a small sigh of relief, before helping the two pull him back inside, where he sat on the floor beneath the window.

"I never realized how _high_ are tree house was until now," he said, chuckling slightly. Looking up at them, he smirked. "I really can't go anywhere without someone trying to _kill_ me, can I?"

"Numbuh 1…" Numbuh 5 said. "How…I mean…Da doctuhs said dat…"

Getting to his feet, the Leader walked in front of them, his back facing towards them. "Adults are hardly ever right about anything, Numbuh 5. You know that as much as I do. When do I ever listen to what adults say, especially when it concerns _my_ life?"

He turned around, the smile on his face returning. "Besides, you didn't _really_ think that I would leave you all, did you?" He suddenly had a playful look on his face. "The Delightful Children said that you didn't operate that well without me, anyway. I'm not sure how true that is, but I don't think I want to take that chance."

The others nodded slightly, remembering the few times Numbuh 1 wasn't there to lead them, and how hard it was without him.

"We're a team, after all, and as a team, we must stick together, no matter what happens to us."

He was caught off guard as Numbuh 3, probably the most emotional one of the group, tackled him, knocking him onto the ground, crying tears of joy in his shirt.

"We were so worried!" she said. "We weren't sure what was going to happen to you! When the Delightful Children kidnapped you, and then when you were in the hospital, and……!"

The commander smiled, rubbing her back comfortingly. "It's alright, Numbuh 3," he said. "I'm here now, and that's all that matters."

Numbuh 2 didn't seem to notice, or care, that his tears were fogging up the goggles of his pilot helmet. "Well," the round operative said, his voice somewhat cracking, "we're glad you're back, Numbuh 1."

He looked up at the mechanic. "It's good to be back, Numbuh 2."

Numbuh 5 pulled the bill of her cap down over her eyes, hoping to hide the tears that were beginning to develop. "Welcome back, Boss," she said. "Ya bettuh not do somethin' like _dat_ again, or you're gonna get it."

He looked over at her, laugh quietly as he nodded.

Finally, Numbuh 3 got to her feet, wiping her tears away with her stretched out sleeves. As Numbuh 1 was attempting to stand, however, he suddenly felt a sharp sting on the back of his head.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing the spot, as he turned to look at Numbuh 4. "What did you do _that_ for?"

"Wouldn't _you_ know?" the Aussie replied, his own voice trembling as he forced his own tears back. "Ah mean, ya 'ad us all worried for a while. We were beginnin' ta wonda if you'd eva wake up, ya jerk. We were beginnin' ta think that…"

The commander got to his feet, dusting himself off before looking sternly at the smaller boy. "All right, that's enough, Numbuh 4," the Brit said. "It's not your position to get worked up over something like this. Understood?"

The usually Tough Kid looked up at his friend, slightly surprised. But, as he did, the severe look seemed to disappear as Numbuh 1 slipped his sunglasses down enough to allow a wink to be seen as a smile appeared, and Numbuh 4 nodded, a smile forming on his own lips.

The Aussie then looked at the others, who seemed to nod at him. With a small sigh, he said, "Um…Numbuh 1?"

"Hm?"

"Well, tha gang 'n' Ah just wan'ed ta……um……apologize……for tha thin's we said before. 'specially me. I neva meant ta say that ya were a bad leada, it's just that……Ah guess we were all just a bit……frustrated, an'…"

"It's alright, Numbuh 4," the Brit said. "There's no need to apologize. After all, the whole incident was the work of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, and it was an ingenious plan at that. Falling for it was inevitable, really. They really thought out all the details. But we still triumphed over them, and _that's_ the important thing."

"But what about their 'ultimate weapon'?" Numbuh 2 asked. "I mean, with _that_ thing, they could get rid of us for sure!"

"Not really," Numbuh 1 answered.

"What do ya mean?" Numbuh 3 asked.

"Funny thing really. On my way over here, I passed by the Delightful Children's mansion. While passing overhead, I noticed that they were actually _dismantling_ their 'ultimate weapon.' Can't imagine why though."

Numbuh 4 looked over at Numbuh 5, both displaying a small smirk.

'With Numbuh 1 back,' the Quiet One thought, 'things'll definitely go back to normal.'

But normal wasn't always a good thing, she realized with a frown. When Numbuh 1 was in the hospital, the desire to tell him how she felt burned within her, so much that it often hurt. Now that he was back, however, she seemed to have lost the courage.

'Since thing's are back ta normal,' she thought, 'are Numbuh 1 and me gonna have our 'normal' relationship, and just stay friends?'

"So," Numbuh 1 suddenly said, pulling the dark agent out of her thoughts, "what exactly was that surprise that you were talking about earlier?"

The other four looked at each other, surprised at first. How long had he been listening to them? they wondered. But the look of surprise melted away, as wide grins replaced them.

They all looked back to Numbuh 1. "Oh, yer gonna get a _kick _outta this one!" Numbuh 5 replied.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	24. Great Honor

**Continuing Transmission**

They all quieted down, however, when a lone figure walked towards the podium that resided on the stage.

Numbuh 274's eyes darted across the vast faces of his fellow operatives. He waited until everything was silenced. When they were all settled down, he readjusted the microphone on the stand so that his voice could be projected to the best extent. What he had to say was very important, after all, and everyone should hear it.

"Fellow Kids Next Door," he finally said, "I'd like to call up the operative that we are all here to honor today…Numbuh 1."

The said agent blushed slightly as the whole audience burst into applause. He looked over at his team, sitting along the row, who urged him to go up. Regaining some composure over the small embarrassment, he rose from his seat, making his way up to the stage.

The Kids Next Door Secret Moon Base HQ was just as he remembered it being when he received the Defense Prize a year ago. Then again, hardly anyone goes up there anyway. The only time anyone went up there was for special occasions.

The Secret Moon Base was like an auditorium, where Kids Next Door all over the world gathered to celebrate a special event, such as award ceremonies, which were the most commonly celebrated proceedings that were held up there. It was the only place where all the Kids Next Door gathered in one place where they didn't conduct any business…………well, not really, anyway.

But Numbuh 1 still didn't really know what was going on. The day he had returned from the hospital, they had told him that he _had_ a surprise, but they refrained from telling him what it was. They had noticed that he still seemed a little drained, so they urged him to get some rest. He complied, only because they wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

It took him about a week more to fully recover, and during that week, his team had acted pretty secretive. When he finally had a chance to ask them about it, he found himself dragged into the rocket and transported to where they were currently.

Not even Numbuh 274 had told him much. All the older operative said was to be ready to come onstage when he was called.

And that was what he did.

He walked up to Numbuh 274, who had a small grin on his face. The older operative held his hand out, and Numbuh 1 grasped it acceptingly in a small, brief handshake.

Then Numbuh 274 turned to face the endless span of other Kids, once again readjusting the mic. "Today, we are all here to honor the past deeds of Numbuh 1, and to appropriately give credit where credit is due.

"As I'm sure many of you know, Numbuh 1 and his team in their region have faced many challenges, overcoming each with courage and determination. Of course, though there have been times where they were scared, that is to be expected, since everyone is scared sometimes. However, when it comes right down to it, each is a trustworthy agent that can be counted on to get the job done."

Numbuh 1 nodded slightly to himself. He alone knew how true that was. Even if his team had a tendency to goof off…a _lot_…they were always ready and there when it really counted. Looking over at the audience, he chuckled softly as he saw his team sinking lower into their seats, flushed with discomfiture.

Numbuh 274's voice brought the Brit's mind out of his thoughts. "One such example was when my…parents…were……well, you all remember that……"

Everyone involuntarily shuddered at the memory.

"Anyway…They were present when I needed them, and sought to help me, regardless of how much danger it put themselves in. While talking with their group, though, they told me that most of the success of their team should be credited to their leader, Numbuh 1."

The young Brit looked at his team, who just smiled back at him 'innocently.' He had the feeling, however, that even Numbuh 3's smile wasn't all _that_ innocent, if at all.

The older operative, however, continued, not giving him much of a chance to ponder over it. "Time and time again, Numbuh 1 has proven himself to be a strong leader, even when faced with a seemingly difficult challenge. One such challenge was when he himself was turned into an adult."

Numbuh 1 looked down at the ground as a wave of murmurs rose from the crowd. It wasn't a memory he was very fond of, the time he had been changed into an adult. Though he could never forget it, he tried as hard as he could to not think of that time.

"Even throughout such a difficult time," Numbuh 274 pressed on, "and the fact that he knew the age rules of the KND, he returned to help his team, and, after he was reverted to normal, he used what he learned as an adult to his, and our, advantage, proving to be a valuable resource for adult behavior.

"However, the reason for today's celebration is for the events that occurred one month ago. Out of concern for what he believed was right for his team, Numbuh 1 had thought it best to leave his group, and the Kids Next Door."

Another surge of whispers flooded through the audience.

Numbuh 274 waited for them to quiet down before persisting. "Due to complications going on in their sector, the team was beginning to get a little…upset…with things. Like any good leader, Numbuh 1 wanted to alleviate the situation as best he could. However, in order to do that, he felt the need to leave.

"Without the appropriate information, Numbuh 1 could not be an operative of the KND. Luckily, Numbuh 4 and I recreated his info packet with an extra one that was found at the IHQ."

Numbuh 1 looked over at the Aussie, who simply grinned proudly.

"When a trap was sprung on all of them, and one of our operatives was in danger, Numbuh 1 bravely risked his own life to save her."

The Brit looked back at the audience to see Numbuh 5, arms folded across her chest, smiling at him, nodding her head.

"That," Numbuh 274 said, "is why we are all present today."

A fellow female operative appeared from offstage next to Numbuh 274, holding a wooden box in her arms, presenting it to the older operative. Opening the case, he pulled out seemed to be a pendant of sorts, dangling by reddish sash.

He turned back to the Brit, showing him and everyone the medallion. Numbuh 1 bent down slightly, allowing Numbuh 274 to place it around his neck.

"Numbuh 1," the older operative said, "for your bravery and selflessness, I would like to present to you this medal of honor."

Straitening, Numbuh 1 looked down at his chest to see the medal resting there. It seemed more of a large bottle cap, a little larger than a tennis ball. The golden hue, he guessed, was probably spray painted, since none of them could ever afford _real_ gold. Still…the feeling of pride that arose within him as he wore the medal was overwhelming. 'Was _this_ what they were talking about?' he wondered. 'Is _this_ the surprise?' He couldn't stop the smile that began to spread across his lips.

"That's not the only thing, though."

He looked up again at Numbuh 274, who had a proud, yet seemingly sad smile on his face.

Back at the podium, Numbuh 274 turned to face the crowd again. "As…upsetting…as it is to announce this, my thirteenth birthday is approaching in two weeks."

A collection of gasps could be heard throughout the entire auditorium.

He silenced them with his hand, a serious look set on his features. "Yeah. And as we all know, once an operative turns thirteen, they are no longer allowed to be a part of the KND."

Suddenly, for some reason, he smiled. "And so, because of my leaving, I proudly wish to pass on my title of 'Greatest KND Operative' to you, Numbuh 1."

Everyone in the auditorium gasped, the loudest of which being Numbuh 1 himself. "_ME_!" he asked, pointing to himself. "You're going to pass on your title to _ME_!"

The older operative nodded. "I am. I think you've proven yourself honorable enough. I'm not just passing the title on to you, Numbuh 1…You've earned it."

And, with a smug look on his face, Numbuh 274 began to clap.

Besides the older operative clapping, the entire auditorium was silent. However, the four members of Numbuh 1's team glanced at each other, then stood up, applauding themselves.

That set off a trigger in the whole hall. Every member of the KND stood as well, applauding. Soon, the whole place echoed with the sound of ovation.

On the stage, Numbuh 1 stood, speechless, as his eyes, hidden underneath the sunglasses, surveyed the support of his fellow operatives. A rush of excitement and awe overtook him.

It lasted for quite a while before things began to quiet down. However, as the applause began to allay, Numbuh 4 noticed the dumbfounded expression on his leader's visage. The Aussie then had an idea to snap him out of it. Cupping his hands around his mouth to increase the volume of his voice, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "_SPEECH!_"

The other three quickly caught on, also noticing the flabbergasted look, and imitated what their fellow agent was doing. "_SPEECH!_"

And soon, the auditorium was filled with the sounds of everyone yelling that one word repeatedly, whether in English or in the language of their choosing. "_SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!_"

The Brit blinked, surprised by the request of all the Kids. He looked over at Numbuh 274, who shrugged and took a few steps to the side to allow him to get to the podium.

Looking over at his team, Numbuh 1 made a mental note to kill Numbuh 4 when they returned to their Tree House, as he walked over to the podium. Since he was shorter than Numbuh 274, he had to readjust the mic to his level.

Clearing his throat, Numbuh 1 finally said, "Fellow Kids Next Door, I am…honored…to be receiving this award, and this title. I can scarcely believe it. However, I must be honest, and inform you all that I don't deserve as much credit as it is believed."

And once again, the audience broke into a buzz, as the Brit's team looked at each other, then back at their boss, wondering what he was talking about.

"There have been some instances," Numbuh 1 continued, "when I have doubted myself as leader of a Kids Next Door section. Too many times have I wondered if I had made the right decision by accepting such. Too often have there been times when things go wrong, and the pressure becomes almost too much to bear. The desire to leave had crossed my mind more than once. The only thing that stopped me from ever leaving before was the support of my team.

"My team…my friends…mean more to me than anything. It was because of them that I joined the Kids Next Door in the first place, when I asked them to join with me. It's because of my team that I strive to be the best that I can be. And if it wasn't for my team, I wouldn't be standing before you today. When I was ambushed by our greatest adversary, they came to rescue me. And when I was in the hospital, it was almost like I could hear their hopes for my recovery. Most likely, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have awoken.

"I will accept this medal, and this title, that have been so graciously given to me. However, I believe that my team deserves them as much as I do, for all that they have done for me."

He smiled as his eyes focused on his team, who were all looking up at him with admiration and shock. "Thank you," he said, more to his team than to anyone else.

The crowd of Kids once again exploded with a standing ovation, this one much deafening than the previous one. The loudest cheers, however, were coming from the front row, particularly from the four Kids in the center, cheering their leader on.

Many operatives rushed up onto the stage to congratulate the Brit leader, including Numbuh 2, 3, and 4. Numbuh 5, however, stayed in her seat, her arms folded across her chest, content with watching her commander greeted with such praise and respect by the other Kids Next Door. His cheeks were flushed, seemingly embarrassed by the heart-moving speech that he had just given. She chuckled to herself as the tribute to him was still being paid.

'Way ta go, Boss,' she thought. 'Ya definitely deserve it.'

**Transmission Interrupted**


	25. A Real Welcome Back

**Continuing Transmission**

A cool breeze tickled the top of Tree House HQ, taking along stray leaves as it passed.

On the roof, Numbuh 1 was enjoying the gentle wind as it refreshed him. Inhaling deeply, he let it out in a sigh.

A trip to the moon and back was never easy. He knew that better than his team. It was rather entertaining to see his wiped out group when they returned from the Secret Moon Base HQ. Having taken a trip there once before, he had come to expect feeling that way again. After all, traveling of any kind did tire a person out.

But they were back now, and they all had had a chance to rest a bit.

He found himself playing with the medal that he had been awarded with just hours before. His hand had been flipping it around as it rested on his chest. He rested his hand on the railway, trying to ignore the weight of the pendant as it lay against his chest.

'What a day it's been,' he thought, rubbing his eyes. 'I still can't believe everything that's happened.'

"Hey, Numbuh 1," he heard a voice say from behind. Turning, he found himself face to face with Numbuh 5, leaning against the opposite railing with her arms folded across her chest.

"Hi," he responded. "What are you doing here?"

She pushed herself away from the railing, taking a few slow steps toward him. "Numbuh 5 jus' wan'ed ta get some fresh air, and get some time ta myself, but looks like ya beat me to it."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

The Quiet One shrugged. "S'ok. Ya don't mind if Numbuh 5 joins ya, do ya?"

"No. Of course not. Go right ahead."

She stood next to him, leaning against the railing, looking down at the street below. "So, how do ya feel, Boss?"

"That depends," he replied, leaning against the balustrade next to her. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"'Bout da whole thang. I mean, it must be great ta be da greatest operative in da KND."

"I suppose."

She looked at him. "Oh, comon, Numbuh 1. It's got ta be a great honor."

He shook his head. "There's a difference between honor and glory."

"Whatchu mean?"

He picked up the medal that he wore around his neck. "Glory is this medal and the title that Numbuh 274 gave me. But the _honor_ is what I did to deserve them."

Silence passed over the two operatives, except for the whistle of the wind and the laughter of the neighborhood kids.

The dark girl took a quick sideways glance at her friend, who was watching the kids on the street with a small smile. She hadn't _really_ come up to the roof for fresh air. She knew very well that he was up here, and she had come to talk to him. She _wanted_ to tell him how she felt about him, but she didn't know _how_ to go about it.

Finally, she just decided to ask a question that had been bothering her for a while. Inhaling, she said, "Hey, Numbuh 1?"

"Hm?" he responded, looking at her.

"Ya 'membuh when ya jumped in front of me ta save me from da Delightful Children's robot?"

"Yeah?"

"Well……Numbuh 5 was just wonderin'……were ya……were ya _scared_ at all?"

He turned his head in her direction, straightening his posture. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Were ya scared? I mean, ya knew what you were doin', and ya knew that they coulda killed ya. So……why'd ya do it?"

"A leader couldn't expect his team to do what he couldn't do himself," he replied. "I was protecting a member of my team."

"Not even many adult leaduhs would do what you did."

"Then," he answered, displaying a small smile, "if not a leader helping a member of his team, then a friend helping out a friend."

"Oh."

She had slightly hoped that it had meant something else, something more. 'But what could I expect?' she told herself.

"Anyway, to answer your question, Numbuh 5, I _was_ scared."

She looked at him, slightly surprised. "Ya were?"

He nodded. "Yes. I was terrified………But not for the reason that you might think."

"Oh? Then what reason were ya scared?"

He shook his head, the smile still present on his lips, "That's _my_ secret.

"Can I ask _you_ something, Numbuh 5?"

"Shoot."

"Were _you_ scared?"

She looked at him, kind of surprised, trying to think of a way to answer him.

Sensing some discomfort from her, the Leader said, "Never mind. That's not important." And he turned again to look at the street below.

She blinked slightly, then smiled. "Hey, why do ya always do dat?" she asked.

"Hm? Do what?"

"Change da subject like dat."

"Oh. Well, if you don't want to talk about it, I shouldn't force you to."

Another fit of silence passed over them, when Numbuh 1 suddenly said, "You called me Nigel."

She looked at him. "Huh?"

"That day, when the Delightful Children were trying to kill us, and they shocked me with their electric gun the second time. You called me Nigel. You haven't called me that since we started in the Kids Next Door two years ago."

She felt her cheeks flush suddenly, trying to think of a quick excuse. "Yeah, well……y'know, when ya left, ya told us ta call ya 'Nigel', and…"

"Yes, but, before then, you were still calling me 'Numbuh 1'. I remember that when they were trying to lure you to the abandoned warehouse. But you called me 'Nigel'. Why did you call me that there?"

She looked down at the ground. How was she going to answer him?

Noticing her delay, he started, "Never mind. If you don't want to…"

She cut him off by placing her hand on his arm. "No," she said, "I _wanna_ talk 'bout this. Actually…I _need_ to."

And, before he had a chance to react, she wrapped her arms about him, pulling him into a tender embrace, as she buried her head into his chest.

He tensed up considerably, as he found himself in an awkward position. Heat flooded to his face. "Um…Numbuh 5?"

"I was scared," she confessed. "I was so scared……that I was gonna lose my best friend.

"We knew that da Delightful Children's robot could kill us. So you jumped in da way ta save me. But……I was afraid that I was gonna lose da person, da one that I care for the most in the entire world, for good."

"Numbuh 5…"

"Numbuh 1……Nigel……I love you."

Her eyes were closed tightly, yet tears were still escaping from them. She had finally said what was kept locked away in her heart, and now she was waiting for the rejection that she felt would follow.

But it never came. Instead, she felt a hand gently wipe away her tears. His other hand came up behind her, pulling her closer to him.

"I'm sorry," she heard him whisper, "that I made you feel that way. I never meant to hurt you, it's just that……When I found out that you weren't there with us, and that you were trapped behind us, I was afraid that I was going to lose _you_, and I was afraid that you were going to be hurt.

"I was…I _am_…terrified of losing you."

She felt a finger underneath her chin, lifting her head up to look at him, as he looked at her with a adoring smile on his lips.

He suddenly leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. Her eyes widened in surprise, but only for a second, when she suddenly leaned into the kiss, deepening it, enjoying the taste of his lips against her own.

But, for some reason, she pulled away from him. "We can't do this, Numbuh 1," she said, sounding a bit forced and slightly hurt.

The expression of her voice was reflected in his eyes. "Why not?"

"You already _have_ a girlfriend."

It took him a minute to realize who she was talking about. "Lizzie?"

"Who else?"

"Lizzie is _not_ my girlfriend."

"Yeah, not anymore. Long distance relationships hardly evuh work."

She was surprised to hear him chuckle slightly. "Numbuh 2 told you about the letter, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Listen, the whole issue with Lizzie is a huge misunderstanding. And when Numbuh 2 read that letter, he didn't know the whole story.

"Do you remember when we were in the second grade, and we were asked to do that pen-pal assignment?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Lizzie was that pen-pal. Even after the assignment was over, we found we had some things in common, so we kept writing to each other for a while.

"That was when I discovered her parents were divorced, and her father had lived here in our neighborhood. When you and the others met her for the first time, that was her first time here, because she was visiting her dad for the first time. She had asked me to show her around, and I did."

"But if that were true, Numbuh 1, why did she kept saying that you were her boyfriend?"

The Brit waved it off with his hand. "She was going through a tough time with her father, and she believed she could alleviate for that by having me as her boyfriend. Even when I told her that I didn't want to be her boyfriend, she still insisted that we were."

"So why didn't ya say anythang about this when we first met her?"

"Easier said than done. I mean, if I _had_ told you all this, would you have believed me then?"

Thinking for a minute, she replied, "Not really."

"Exactly. Besides, Lizzie thought that way as well, so I really couldn't fight it.

"However, the letter that Numbuh 2 read was Lizzie's letter telling me that her father moved somewhere else, meaning that she couldn't come to see me anymore. That's what it meant when it said she moved away."

"So you and Lizzie weren't really going out?"

"No."

She let out a small sigh. "Okay."

Numbuh 1 then smiled playfully. "So, when Lizzie had gotten me the 'Boyfriend helmet', and I had said that you were jealous, were you really?"

The dark girl blushed furiously. "NO!"

"Oh, come on…Tell the truth."

She shuffled the ground with her foot. "Maybe a little."

Looking up, though, she noted that he didn't really believe her.

"Okay, so I was."

He still had that look on his face.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine! I was _really_ jealous! Are you happy!"

He smirked, nodding. "Hey, don't feel bad. If it's any consolation, when Numbuh 274 picked you up and carried you on board the ship that time we were fighting his parents, I was jealous too."

"You were?"

"Sure. I couldn't exactly do that."

She laughed. "No, no you couldn't."

He stuck his tongue at her. "Thanks a lot," he retorted.

She laughed again, placing her head on his shoulder, as he placed his arm around her waist, pulling her closer together to him, as the two of them watched as the sun began to descend from the sky.

**Transmission Interrupted**


	26. Epilogue

**Continuing Transmission**

The sun warmed the earth, contrast to the breeze that was cooling it down. On the ground, if one were to look up, they would see the clouds lazily passing up above them.

One such individual gazing up at the billows was Numbuh 1, as he leaned back, lying down on the blanket beneath him, using his arms as a cushion for his head.

Numbuh 4 was sitting next to him, leaning back on his hands. The breeze ruffled his blond bangs lightly, just revealing his eyes.

"'ey, Numbuh 1?" the Aussie said.

"Hm?" the Brit replied lazily. His eyes, which were closed in a near attempt to fall asleep, opened, though one couldn't determine that due to the dark shades he wore.

"Where are tha girls?"

"I'm not sure. I think they went on a walk or something."

"Prob'bly ta talk 'bout girl stuff."

The Leader didn't give a reply to his comrade. Instead, he closed his eyes again.

At that time, the four Kids were at the park on a double date, while Numbuh 2 was watching the Tree House HQ.

The four of them had decided to have a picnic in the park. It had been an interesting time, and when everyone had finished eating, the two girls had went on a walk, most likely to talk, leaving the two guys behind.

It was pretty quiet at the park, save the song that the birds were singing. But underneath the shade of the tree, and the feeling of a full stomach, lying under the lazy sky, it was no surprise that someone might fall asleep there.

Hearing the gentle snore of his commander, Numbuh 4's gaze shifted to the grassy area in front of him, thinking the Brit had gone to sleep. Little did he know that Numbuh 1 had yet to slumber.

Instead, Numbuh 1's mind was on the border line of sleep and the waking world, giving off the impression that he _was_ asleep. But his mind was still awake, slightly, as he was reminiscing over past events.

It had been three weeks since their trip to the Secret Moon Base HQ, and as a result, the previous Numbuh 274, known as Chad, had experienced his thirteenth birthday. The night before his birthday, the KND felt it appropriate to have a party for the older operative. Numbuh 1 and his team had attended, of course, to wish him well off in the world of the teenagers.

The farewell gathering, however, ended as a different type of social get-together, as Numbuh 274 had "officially" passed his title to Numbuh 1. As soon as he did, many of his fellow operatives began to ask him questions, and the Brit slightly felt as if he was being interviewed by the media.

When plans of action figures and trading cards were beginning to be produced, as it had previously had been with Numbuh 274, Numbuh 1 had to wonder if the older operative had ever felt uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting. Assuredly, Numbuh 274 said he did.

The farewell/congratulation party went on late into the night, until it reached midnight, and the day of Numbuh 274's birthday had arrived. As followed, the time to decommission him had to go underway. Numbuh 1 and the other KND operatives in charge of the decommissioning had recommended until the morning. But the older operative argued, saying that once an operative consciously reached the age limit, meaning that when they awaken to their thirteenth birthday, they had no choice but to take their leave. So they had to do so.

Chad didn't fight it, of course, since he knew very well, when he had accepted the terms of being a KND operative, when he would have to leave. So he bade the Kids Next Door good luck with future missions, and entered the world that lay waiting for him.

Numbuh 1 was slightly unsure of things following Numbuh 274's leaving. After their first encounter, Numbuh 274 and Numbuh 1 had kept in close contact, when each operative wasn't busy, and Numbuh 1 had looked up to the older comrade, almost like the brother he never had.

But Chad had left, and Numbuh 1 had filled his position as someone younger operatives of the Kids Next Door looked up to. He knew he had to set a good example for them if they were going to be great operatives as they learned the ways of the KND. But, according to Numbuh 5, that wasn't going to be a problem for the Leader.

Numbuh 1 was brought out of his near slumber and back into the waking world with a pair of soft lips brushing against his own. Opening his eyes, Numbuh 1 found himself looking up at a smiling, upside down Numbuh 5. Or was he the one upside down? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that she appeared upside down to him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hm…" he replied lazily, tiredly. As she got up, he sat up, supporting himself on his elbows, looking over at her. "Where's Numbuh 3 and 4?"

"Dey took a walk togethuh. Numbuh 3 found a buncha flowuhs dat she liked, and she wan'ed Numbuh 4 ta see 'em."

Numbuh 1 chuckled slightly. "I'm sure he wasn't too happy about that."

"'bout seein' a buncha flowuhs, prob'bly not. But spendin' time with Numbuh 3…just da two of 'em…_that's_ a diff'rent story."

The Leader chuckled again. "Yeah, that's true. I'm sure he's enjoying _that_."

The Quiet One chuckled, setting herself down right next to him. The two of them had decided to wait a while before telling the others that they were together. Unlike Numbuh 3 and 4, Numbuh 1 and 5 felt a little more embarrassment with telling things such as when they were in a relationship. However, the other three Kids had ended up guessing. Numbuh 1 discovered that they all knew the Numbuh 5 had liked him, and when they tried to keep it a secret, they found out anyway. It made Numbuh 1 wonder how long exactly she did like him like that.

He was drawn out of his questioning when he saw that Numbuh 5 was looking at him. He could feel the wonder in her eyes, asking him if he was okay. He smiled at her, silently telling her that he was.

She smiled back. She enjoyed the silent conversations that they had between them. They didn't have to say a word to know what the other was thinking or feeling. It helped that they had known each other since they were younger, and that they had been really close since then.

She leaned forward slowly, and he began to do the same.

Suddenly, he stopped, as his ears picked up a strange sound. Leaves and grass began to fly about them, raised by a sudden strong wind. But the sound was too mechanical to be wind.

A large shadow suddenly covered them, causing them to look up and see the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W. hovering over them.

Questioning looks crossed their features before Numbuh 1 and 5 realized that the vehicle was going to land on them.

The two of them scrambled to their feet, getting up as quickly as possible as the aircraft was coming down upon them. They ran, trying their best to escape the shadow that meant the craft was going to land on them.

As they were running, however, a loose rock caused Numbuh 1 to trip, and he crashed into Numbuh 5. The two of them rolled on the ground, just out of the large shadow as the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W. landed.

Numbuh 1 groaned, lifting his head to look up at the aircraft, before realizing the position he was in. He and Numbuh 5 blushed, as she looked up from under him.

He shot onto his feet, ignoring the dizziness he felt from standing too fast. He held out his hand to the dark girl, pulling her to her feet, as the sound of the engine on the machine died down.

Both ignored the blush on their cheeks as Numbuh 3 and 4 ran over to the two. "Wha's goin' on?" the Tough Kid asked.

The two didn't reply, still too embarrassed about their previous pose on the ground.

Confused by their silence, Numbuh 3 looked over at the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W. and suddenly smiled. "Look, it's Numbuh 2!" she said, pointing.

And indeed, Numbuh 2 was hobbling towards them. "Hey guys!" he called.

"I hope you can elucidate, Numbuh 2," Numbuh 1 said, his hands behind his back. He hoped that the round operative wouldn't notice the flush that spread across his cheeks.

"Yeah, Numbuh 2," Numbuh 4 agreed. "If ya didn't notice, we're kinda _busy_ 'ere!" He indicated by nodding his head towards Numbuh 3.

Numbuh 2 looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "Well……um……"

"What?" Numbuh 3 asked.

"It's……it's just that……"

"Well," Numbuh 5 said, "spill it already!"

"Well……the alarm at the Tree House went off!"

The eyes on the other three looked at him, wide. But Numbuh 1 retained his calm. "I see. What did Kids Next Door satellites pick up this time?" the Leader asked.

Numbuh 2 twiddled his thumbs again. "Well, the satellites picked up a scientist somewhere, and he's……he's making a machine that will get rid of the weekends forever!"

The Numbuh 3, 4, and 5 gasped, as Numbuh 1 broke away from the four, beginning to pace around.

"Obviously this scientist is building this machine to keep kids in school all week," the Leader mused. "By getting rid of the weekend, kids will be forced to stay in school, and will be forced to work all school year. If a machine like that is to succeed, it will only be a matter of time before one will be made powerful enough to eradicate the summer."

"No!" all the kids said, looking at Numbuh 1.

"Indeed. That just gets rid of all types of summer vacation activity."

"No ice cream on hot days?" Numbuh 2 asked, horrified.

"No summer slumber parties?" Numbuh 3 asked, covering her mouth with her sleeve-covered hands.

"No trips to tha beach!" Numbuh 4 cried.

"None of those. However, I assume that would only happen if the machine to get rid of the weekend works." He smacked a clenched fist in his other free hand. "This must be stopped!"

"No tellin' how far this adult has come along," Numbuh 5 said, pulling her red cap down farther over her eyes. "A lotta da time, da satellites don't pick thangs like dis up right away."

"Exactly," the Brit agreed. "No telling what this scientist has gotten done already. We'll have to move fast."

That was when Numbuh 1 realized that the eyes on his teammates were fixed on him. In each pair of orbs, there seemed to be some expectation, a silent anticipation that was directed at him, waiting for him to do…something…

Numbuh 5 was the first to speak after a while. "It's your call, Numbuh 1."

And he understood then, what they were waiting for. They looked at him with eagerness, waiting to hear the five words that they wanted to before, the five words that were often uttered by their leader that usually got them ready for whatever headed their way.

The leader smirked, only happy to comply.

"Kids Next Door……BATTLE STATIONS!"

**End Transmission**


End file.
